


The Golden Dragon

by Star_trash



Category: RWBY
Genre: 20’s au, Alternate Universe - Gang World, Angst, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, Lesbian Character, Romance, adam tarus is a bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2020-11-24 01:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 59,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20899076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_trash/pseuds/Star_trash
Summary: Blake is a singer in a speakeasy run by Yang, the leader of the dragons. They’re in love, love that’s pushed to the limit when Blake’s past catches up with her.





	1. Chapter 1

The rain was pattering down on the hooded women. Stoping at the revolving door of a hotel, she turned her head, as if she was checking to make sure she wasn’t followed. Seeing satisfactory results, she pushed through the door. 

The lobby was beautiful to say the least. The chandelier glittered with diamonds worth more than her life. The tiled floor gave her heels a nice ‘click’ as she walked to the check-in desk. There was a man sitting in a cushy arm chair reading the paper.

The man at the desk was flipping through files before she chimed the bell for his attention.

He picked up his head, “Ah, Miss Belladona, how are you doing this fine evening?”

“I’m doing well, I just hope the sun shines again.” The man eyes darkened; nodding in understanding, he turned his head away from her, as if turning a blind eye.

She walked in the opposite direction his head was turned, to a seemingly empty corner. But upon closer inspection one would be able to see a door. Now, most would most assume it was a cleaning closet, as it was labeled as such. However, if one was to open the door and peer into the back, you could see the faint outline of an elevator. The woman headed to the back,  
dodging the cleaning tools with the grace of a dancer. She reached the elevator, and pressed the lowest level.

When the elevator finally reached her selected level, it opened to a bar. All the chairs were up except for a few, the rest were being set up by a young girl with black and red hair. The girl turned around at the arrival of the elevator, her eyes widened as she broke into a huge grin. “Blake,” she squealed as she tackled hug the woman stepping off the elevator. Though the girl seemed small and piete, she packed quite a punch.

Blake laughed as she was nearly knocked over by this girl. “C’mom Ruby,” she chide, “ it’s not like you didn’t see me yesterday.”

“But it still felt like forever,” Ruby pouted.

“Yeah, I can agree with that,” a cool voice chimed in. Blake released Ruby as she saw a woman with golden hair walk towards her. She was dressed in a two piece suit, her hair spilling around her like an untamed fire. She was holding a drink in her hand, a strawberry sunrise of course, Blake thought.

“Hey Sis,” Ruby bounced up to her sister, “any new customers tonight?”

Yang didn’t take her eyes off of Blake while speaking, “not really, but the Shncee are bringing in some sponsors,” she briefly glanced at Ruby while saying, “so we have to be on our best behavior, got it?”

“No promises,” she said, grinning.

Yang cuffed her on the back of the head, “don’t be cheeky.” She turned to Blake, “May I escort you to your dressing room?” Yang invited, offering her hand.

“Awww, I wanted to talk to Blake more,” Ruby whined.

“The clients are going to be here soon, I need to get ready.” She ruffled Ruby’s hair, “you can come talk to me after the show.”

Ruby brightened up at that prospect, and went back to her job.

Yang and Blake walked side by side to the left of the stage. Yang opened the door, letting Blake go first. “My, how polite, how drunk are you dear?” Blake joked.

“Please Doll, this is only my first drink,” Yang held up her glass. Blake snorted and they both started laughing as they headed to Blake’s dressing room.

When they stopped at the door, Yang let go of her arm, “I need to take care of some business before the club opens up.” What she expected was a silent nod and a shutting of the door; What she didn’t expect was Blake, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to plant a kiss on the lips. 

Yang’s expression went from surprise to contentment, she sighed, leaning into the kiss. Blake threaded her fingers into Yang’s golden lock. Even though they had to part ways soon, Blake wanted to savor this moment. 

When Blake finally pulled back, Yang’s eyes were closed. Blake chuckled and kissed her cheek, “I’ll see you after the show dear.”

Yang blushed, straightening herself up. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you then.” As yang walked away, with her hand in her pockets, she had a spring in her step.

——  
Blake closed the door with a smile. Yeah, she knew she fell for that snarky blonde, and she fell hard.

She leaned against the door, remembering the first time she met Yang. 

There was a terrible storm when she ran from her former gang, and her ex- boyfriend. She thought the storm was a sign that she was making a mistake, that she needed to stay with the White Fang. It wasn’t until after the sun was shining that she recalled something her mother said.

That storms were always a new beginning.

She wandered the streets like a lost ally cat that day. Stealing food and money where she could, but it wasn’t enough. She began to fear the worst.

It wasn’t until an umbrella shielded her from the rain that she began to gain hope. 

Blake looked up into a pair of violet eyes. The woman seemed to radiate heat, but at the time she was highly suspicious.

“What do you want?” She snarled.

“My name’s Yang, what about you?” It surprised Blake that the woman didn’t spit on her considering she snapped at her.

“Why do you care?”

Yang shrugged, “you seemed upset, thought I could help.”

It was this unwarranted kindness that she showed that would cause Blake to fall for her eventually. This random stranger didn’t expect something out of her like others. She simply talked to her out of concern for her well being. Blake hasn’t been shown this generosity since she was very young, and for years felt like she didn’t deserve it.

Blake was snapped out of her daydream when she heard the “five minutes” call out from the other side of the door. 

———-

The bar was packed tonight. People ordering illegal drinks, talking loudly, discussing plans in low voices. It was a rule of thumb that if someone was speaking softly or not at all, they were plotting something.

Unless Blake was singing.

Time seemed to stop in the bar when she walked on to stage, her glittering black gown dragging behind her. It was always like this, and it made her feel powerful. The fact that her mere presence could quiet down a whole bar of rowdy gangsters gave her immense satisfaction.

The spot light caught on her earrings causing to them sparkle, giving her an almost ethereal look. When she reached the microphone, she stroked the fur on her shoulders. 

She and Yang always had a silent code. Small gestures could mean whole sonnets while doubling as an alert if need be. The stroking of the fur told Yang, “this one’s for you baby.”

When Blake started singing Yang felt like she died and gone to heaven. She always had an amazing voice. At the beginning, it’s what she did to earn her keep, but eventually it grew into a mutual love between Blake and Yang. Yang loved to hear it and Blake loved singing to her. Blake did, however, keep it as neutral as possible, but there were some exceptions.

The band started up a soft, upbeat melody while Blake sang, 

“There's a garden  
Where I go  
If you meet me there  
No one will know  
In the springtime  
In the sun  
We can be alone  
Without anyone”

Yang was lost in her voice when a cold ice voice said to her, “so she’s going with that one first, huh.”

She whipped her head around. “Weiss,” she smiled and flung out her arm in invitation. “Come and join us,” she gestured to the people around her.

Weiss crosses her arms, “I’ll sit for a bit, but I need to talk business.”

“Aw, you’re all work and no play. Can’t you sit down and relax,” she leaned forward and waggled her eyebrows, “I bet Ruby would be happy.”

“Yaaaang,” Ruby punched her in the arm, “don’t embarrass me.”

She ruffled Ruby’s hair, “But I’m your big sister, I get that right, now hush.” She turned back to Blake. 

“Now the flowers  
Are in bloom  
And you chased away my darkness and gloom  
When the wind blows  
Through the trees  
And your voice is like a song in the breeze  
My doubts disappear  
Every time that you're near  
Clouds seem to run from the sky  
The thought of your kiss  
Sends my soul into bliss  
I get high”

Blake smiled as she sang, looking at the room through lidded eyes. Even though she was a performer, she still needed to be vigilant. As Weiss would say as she disposed of her enemies, “you can never be to careful.”

While the room was dim, her heightened eye sight could make her see as if the room was in broad daylight. 

As she was nearing the song she saw a suspicious person, which was surprising considering that the place was full of gangsters. She signaled to Yang by tapping her foot.

“Baby, can't you see?”

A flick of her right ear, someone is here.

“You could be with me”

The fingers of left hand spread out, by the bar

“We could live inside a garden of ecstasy.”

She threw her arm backwards, seems like a cop.

“You could be my queen  
I could be your dream  
Our lives like a fantasy  
Maybe set me free  
Let me be your bumblebee”

She tilted her chin up, be careful, I love you.

When she made eye contact with Yang, Yang nodded her head and tapped her class twice on the table. Message received, love you too babe.

She raised her glass, signaling for a new drink. But when the waiter came over she relayed Blake’s message. She eyed the clientele at the bar. Not many new faces, but one that stood out was a man in a black trench coat. She snorted, how obvious can this guy be. He clearly was a newbie detective trying to bite off more than he could chew. Most cops were smart and just accepted the bribe. After all, nothing wrong with a bit of good beer, despite what the government says. Those guys are by far more corrupted than any Mafia leader.

Blake finished up the song with roaring applause. No matter how many times she hears it the fact people actually care enough to look is amazing in itself, the fact that they LIKE her singing, well, it brought a smile to her face.

She took a bow and headed stage right. As she did, a man was standing waiting in the wings.

“Beautiful work tonight Miss Belladona.”

“Thank you, now then what does my Dear need me to do.”

“Boss said to wait and that she’ll deal with it.”

Blake’s cat wars flattened against her head in irritation. “Not going to happen,” she said firmly. She pushed by the messenger and headed towards Yang.

————  
Yang saw her girlfriend walk towards her. She smiled, knowing Blake was going to be angry with her. She knew that Blake hated to wait by the sidelines, but she still tried to keep her safe. Nevertheless, Blake likes to be on the frontlines of conflict, which is very different from when she first me her.

“Ah, our prize vocalist,” she raised her glass in toast, “What a stunning show you put on tonight.”

Blake crosses her arms, “it ain’t over yet sweetheart.” Yang snorted at Blake’s use of the nickname she usually gives. “Mind if I sit down?”

“Not at all Kitten.” Blake huffed and plopped next to her. She started observing the cop over by the bar. He seemed young, late teens maybe? He was nursing a coke. Doesn’t want to disobey the law even when undercover, he must be seriously new.

She signaled for one the waiters. “Give the man at the bar over there a rum, tell him it’s from me,” she smirked as the waiter took the order. Yang shot her a look, but didn’t say anything until the waiter walked away.

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake’s shoulder. “What are you doing,” she whispered.

Blake leaned back onto Yang’s shoulder. “Just moving things along.”

The pair watched the man receive the drink. He thanked the waiter, but never drank it. Yang snorted and rolled her eyes. “One does not simply reject a drink in a speakeasy,” she said.  
Blake lightly smacked her shoulder, “he’s trying his best, don’t give him a hard time.”

“But he’s about to give us one.”

She snapped her head around to see the man walking towards them. On closer inspection he had a faint tan and a simple button up shirt. 

“Hi, nice to meet you. You’re the one who gave me the drink, right?” 

“Yes I am.”

“Well,” he took her hand and kissed it, Yang’s eyes lit up in anger, “thank you for that wonderful performance. You truly are an amazing singer.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. Blake took her hand back, trying to play coy.

“Why thank you, and may I ask your name?”

He grinned, “the names Sun.” He ripped off his hat, “but you can call me the guy whose going to break down this whole bar and operation!”

Immediately the clicking of guns sounded throughout the bar. He turned around, wide eyed at the amount of guns pointed directly at him.

“Nice try rookie,” Yang said, pointing her gun at him. “But no biscuit.”

“Well...” he paused, “fuck.”


	2. A sad fact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Blake find out how and why Sun found their bar.

Blake watched from the shadows as one of Yang’s men slapped around Sun, who was tied to a chair.

“I’ll never tell you anything,” Sun crowed, acting as if he was winning the situation.

“Like you have any option here.” All attention turned to Yang. She was standing in front of the door, hands in her pockets.

“I always have options,” he waggled his eyebrows as Blake, “especially when it comes to the ladies.” 

He cried out when Yang slapped him. “We don’t take kindly to cheek here.” She grabbed his chin and brought his face to hers, “ now how did you find us?” 

He just smirked at her, “wouldn’t you like to know?”

She raised her hand again to hit him, this time balled into a fist But a voice called out, stopping Yang mid-motion.

“Yang wait!” Blake cried out. She stepped out from her hiding spot, looking at the back of Sun’s chair. Yang furrowed her brow at Blake’s request. She looked in the same direction. What she saw made her step back back.

It was a monkey’s tail, the same color as his sandy blond hair. Yang wanted to slap herself for not realizing sooner. “You’re a Faunus, huh?” She said, with a softer infliction in her tone.

“What’s it to you?” Sun snapped. His witty demeanor turned to anger and shame. “Do you wish that you killed me the moment you saw me?”

Yang took another step back, still maintaining eye contact, “No, I don’t wish that.”

He snorted, “Yeah right, a gang boss like you? You probably see us a lesser than the humans you already see as roaches.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Blake bellowed. She stomped over to the chair, unwrapping her bow to reveal cat ears. She stared him down, “she’s one of the most accepting people on Earth. She’s so accepting that this bar you wanted to shut down is a safe haven for everyone,” she looked at Yang and smiled, “no matter their past.” She turned back to Sun, fury in her eyes, “and I will not tolerate any disrespect towards her, got it?”

“Now then, let’s start again,” she placed her hands on her hips, “how and why did you find us?”

Sun shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “I found you by following some of your staff. It was always suspicious to me how this swanky hotel always had so few guests in the lobby.”

“It has its lax and busy seasons,” Yang interjected.

Sun nodded, “ Yeah, I get that, my parents ran a BNB.”

Blake tilted her head, “aw, how sweet.”

“Great, sweet, but how did you find us?”

“I told you, I followed some of the staff and found the service entrance.”

“And why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you try to uncover us? Even those dirty cops know that shutting down a speakeasy will cause more problems than it’s worth, so why?” Yang demanded.

Sun mumbled something.

“Hm, I didn’t hear you, speak up.”

He sighed, “I thought if I took down a speakeasy then they would let me be a detective.”

Blake’s eyes widened in surprise while Yang pinched the bridge of her nose. Yang put up her hand, “hold up, you’re not working for anyone?”

He nodded, “they won’t let me onto the force and,” he looked down at the floor, “ and no one wants to hire a Faunus.” 

The air in the room immediately felt tense. Yang’s hands balled into fists, though her face was a mask of apathy. “So you thought that if you brought us down that those racist pigs would actually respect you?”

He didn’t answer, only hung his head in shame.

“Well here’s the truth kid,” she gritted through her teeth, “those bastards will never respect you, no matter what you do. In fact, they’ll be more pissed than anything that some kid did their job better than them. Best case scenario, they’ll leave your beaten and bruised body to be found in an ally.”

A pin being dropped could echo throughout the room. Blake put a hand on Yang’s shoulder. She flicked her eyes to the door, motioning that maybe they should leave. Yang nodded in agreement. She said to her goons, “keep an eye on him.” Her goons gave a curt nod, but they all knew that he wasn’t going anywhere. She threw a look of pity at the slumped man. He looked defeated, his tail hanging limp. She wanted to say something, but she turned away. Squeezing Blake’s hand, they walked out the door.

————-

Blake let out a long sigh. She leaned against the door and put her hands over her eyes. Yang stood against the opposite wall, her arms crossed.

Breaking the silence, Blake asked, “what are we going to do?”

“Well, first off we need to tighten security, fill in the cracks.

“Not about that, about him,” she gestured to the door. “We can’t release him back out, it could expose us, and...” she looked at her. Yang’s eyes were covered by her bangs. Her silence made Blake realize what she wanted to do.

“No,” she said in a terrified whisper, “No, you can’t.”

“We can’t have any lose ends. You know how dangerous those are.”

She stomped her foot, “we cannot kill him.”

“Blake,” she said softly.

“No, don’t you ‘Blake’ me,” she pointed at her, “he’s just trying to do what it takes to survive. You of all people would know what it’s like.” 

Yang faced away from her. This made Blake even angrier, she barred her teeth, “you’re upset because you know I’m right.”

“By God Blake, we can’t adopt every stray that wanders into our path!” ,she shouted at her. “Do you know how that would make us look? Do you know what type of trouble that weakness invites. We save one, next thing you know this place is will be taken over, and our safe haven will be gone!”

“So what was I?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Wasn’t I just some ‘stray’ that you picked up. Wasn’t I some girl that you helped, who was subjugated to the same exact racism that he’s subjugated too.” Blake shouted, “ am I just some sign of weakness?!” Tears stung at her eyes, threatening to fall, but she refused to show weakness, not now.

Before Yang could respond, Blake turned on her heel and stormed back to her dressing room.


	3. The ultimate decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a look into Yang’s past, and Sun’s fate is decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m honestly surprised how many people like this story, it makes me really happy. I noticed how Yang was kind of a jerk in previous chapters, but I don’t want her seen that way. She is one of my favorite characters, so I wanted to serve her justice by making her a complex character. This chapter will be a study of her motives and personality, because again, I love her.
> 
> Thank you for reading :D

Yang watched Blake storm down the hall, feeling immensely guilty.

“Fuck,” she said quietly, growing in volume she continued, “fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!” She turned and punched the wall, leaving cracks in the plaster. Her eyes were glowing scarlet; she was so angry she almost didn’t notice the small ‘excuse me.’

An errand boy was standing there in a vest and gloves, his hands trembling as he clutched the files in his hands.

Yang’s eyes turned back to her normal color as she regained her composure. She coughed, playing off her outburst. “Yeah, what do you want?”

“I -I have the files you requested Ms. Xao Long,” he stuttered. 

“Put then in my office, I have some business to attend to first.”

He nodded, “right away Miss.” He dashed down the hallway like he was being chased by a man with a knife.

——————  
~Two years ago~

There was a light rain over the city that day. Yang was walking back to the hotel to meet her mom there about some business. As she was walking by an alley, she heard soft singing.

She stopped dead in her tracks,What the hell, she thought. She peered down the alley way, not seeing anything at first. She began to think she imagined it when she heard it again. Yang cautiously headed into the alley. It was dark, piles of trash littered both sides. Even though it seemed like there was nothing, the sound of singing drove her on. 

What she found, much to her surprise, was a girl curled up next to a dumpster. The girl had black hair and a beat up face, like someone slapped her around. The raven haired girl didn’t seem to notice Yang, she just buried her face in her knees and hummed. 

Yang thought she was probably a drug addict, but something felt off. She held her umbrella over the girl’s head to shield her from the rain. The girl immediately reacted, her head jolted, eyes switching from fear to suspicion. Definitely not an druggie, her reaction time is fast, Yang thought.

“What do you want,” the girl snarled at her. She pressed her against the wall, like she was willing herself to disappear into the shadows.

“My name’s Yang, what about you?” 

“Why do you care?”

Yang shrugged, “you seemed upset, I thought I could help.” She rubbed the back of her neck. What was she thinking, she barely knew this girl, and -

“Blake.”

“What?”

“My name is Blake.”

“Oh,” Yang blushed, “ uh, hi Blake, do you,” she was at a lost of words, why did she have to be cute, “do you want some help, you seemed pretty beat up.”

Blake looked down, blushing while hiding her face.

“Um, ok ignore what I said about, uh- fuck,” Yang stammered. 

Blake started to chuckle, “you’re fine.”

Yang offered her hand, “my family runs a hotel, it’s not far from here. We can give you bored until you’re on your feet again.”

Blake smiled, taking Yang’s hand, “thank you, so much.”

Yang flashed a grin at her, “not a problem.”

——————  
She was looking over Sun’s files in her office, his background, personal life, medical records. Yang prided herself on her connections. With her connections, she could find anything and everything about a person; even the less, let’s say, legal things a person has done.

Weiss walked into her office with her head of security, Winter. “What did your informants find on this guy?”

“He’s clean,” she sighed, “no gang history, or even anything remotely illegal. Orphaned at 10, lived with his aunt until 18, tried to join the police force multiple times.”

“He seems nice and determined,” Weiss crossed her arms, “ it’s a shame we have to get rid of him.”

Yang gave a non-commentary “hm”. She had her chin on her hands, staring into empty space.

“What do you mean ‘hm’?”

“He might be useful,” Yang thought aloud. 

Weiss went over and slammed her hands on her desk, “oh no, you are not taking in some wannabe police detective. He might expose you to the police,” she straightened up, adjusting her coat, “it’s not worth the risk.”

“But isn’t it against our code to kill someone who’s innocent,” Yang cocked her eyebrow at Weiss. 

Weiss stood up straighter, her face growing a tad pink. “Well, yes, but we need to maintain safety at all times. You know how valuable our power is, lose it, and we’re sitting ducks for the other gangs to take us out.”

“While that is true,” Yang stood up from her desk, “ you have to admit he is good at what he does.”

“What do you mean,” she sputtered.

“He found us.”

Weiss started tapping her foot against the floor, “and, your point is?”

“My point is that, even with no police support, with no prior data that those fat cat detectives have stored up, he was able to find us through sheer deductive reasoning and stubbornness he was able to not only find us, but sneak in.” She walked out from behind her desk, hands behind her back, “do you really want someone like him on the cop’s side, or worse, another gang? He’s valuable, and we can use him.”

Weiss snorted, “convincing argument, if I hadn’t known you as long as I have I would have thought you saw him as some sort of pawn rather than a person.”

“Well,” Yang shrugged, “I have to keep face somehow.”

“You’ve become to empathetic.”

“And you have a heart colder than ice.”

“Touché,” Weiss turned to walk out the door, “I have some business to attend to. You’re not the only one to running a family business around here after all.”

“You don’t have to remind me princess.”

Weiss threw her a rude gesture and walked out.

————————  
Blake was sitting in her dressing room when she heard a knock on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Yang, I was wondering if we could talk.”

She remained silent, hoping that Yang would go away. But she knew deep in her heart that she wasn’t going to leave. Whenever they would fight, Yang wanted to solve it right away. She told Blake about how fighting and stewing arguments led to her parents splitting up. She confessed that she didn’t want that, and vowed to be different from them.

“Blake, please don’t shut me out, I’m sorry that I hurt you, I didn’t mean to, please.” Yang said barely loud enough for Blake to hear, “I love you.”

She sighed and stood up to open the door. Yang was standing in the doorway, her hands fidgeting. “What do you want?”

“We’re not killing him,” she said point blank. Yang knew Blake hated beating around the bush, and right now the last thing she wanted to do was piss off Blake.

Her eyes widened in surprise, “wait, really?”

“Yeah babe,” she smiled at her, “I thought about it. He’s determined, sneaky, and could be a big help around here. Ruby complained about not having enough help in the bar, so I thought maybe we could start him there.”

“Oh, Yang,” Blake wrapped her arms around her, “thank you so much. I was so worried, he doesn’t deserve to die.”

Yang chuckled, “no, he doesn’t. He’s useful, we don’t punish useful around here darling.”

Blake laughed, “how practical of you.”

“Yeah, practical; Anyway, I have a question.”

Blake pulled back, “what is it?”

“Do you really see yourself as a weakness?”

She looked away from her. She didn’t want to say anything. Blake always suffered from self esteem and self worth issues thanks to her ex. But she knew Yang never her saw her as anything she thought she was, useless, expendable, a weakness.

Yang turned Blake’s face towards her, “listen here babe, and listen good. You are just as valuable as anyone else here. You’re a badass singer with take no shit attitude. You’re strong willed and smart and a bunch of other things.” She leaned forward so that their forehead were touching, “you are my sun, my moon, and my stars. I love you so, so much. And you best never forget it.”

“I won’t,” Blake smiled.

“You better not, or I’ll kick your ass.”

She snorted, “like you could ever kick MY ass. Remember the first time we sparred?”

“And I got knocked back against the wall, yeah of course I do. I still have bruises from that.”

“No you don’t you big baby.”

“Wanna check,” Yang said suggestively.

Blake pulled back and smacked her arm, “oh my god, way to ruin the moment,” she laughed.

At Blake’s laughter, Yang started laughing too. They dissolved into a fit, not even bothering to try and stop.

———————-

Sun was stilled tied to the chair when Blake and Yang approached him about the job offer. Needless to say, he was less than inclined.

“Me? Work for a crime boss?” He exclaimed 

“Yup,” Yang said, popping the P, “you can work for us. You’ll start in the bar of course, then we can move you to some more,” she waved her hand, “engaging jobs.”

“And why in the world would I work for you?”

Blake stepped forward, “so you can help people like us. The golden dragons don’t just do drug and alcohol smuggling. We also do human trafficking break ups, shelter, and protection for people who can’t protect themselves.”

“Oh really?” 

“You sound doubtful.”

“Of course I’m doubtful, you’re criminals after all!”

“We prefer vigilantes,” Yang said.

“Yeah, and you ‘vigilantes’ extort money out of small businesses in the guise of protection.”

“We actually protect our businesses,” Yang defended, “and our fees are based on percent of revenue the business makes monthly.”

“Then what about that all those businesses that ‘mysteriously’ burn down?” He smiled as if he caught her in her lies.

“Those weren’t ours, trust me, you wouldn’t know who was under our protection because we do our job.”

His face slackened, “oh.”

She clapped her hands together, “great, now that’s out of the way. Are you ready to join us or not?”

Sun was silent, deep in thought. Blake knew he was conflicted. She knew she was when Yang first offered her the job. She tapped her shoulder and whispered in Yang’s ear. Yang nodded and turned to Sun.

“Here, in a sign of good faith,” Yang snapped her fingers. Her goons began to untie him from the chair. Sun stood up rubbing his wrists. “We’re not as bad as you think.”

Blake walked up to Sun and held his hands in hers, “please think about our offer. We’ll offer you bored, protection, a stable job. In return, you can help protect innocent people.” She flicked her cat ears, “people like us.”

Sun nodded in understanding. He turned to Yang, “Alright, I’ll do it. But on one condition.”

Yang arched her brow, “what exactly is did you have in mind?”

“I’m not ordered to kill anyone,” he said firmly.

Yang waved her hand in dismissal, “ we have people for disposal, however,” she made eye contact with him, “I can’t guarantee you won’t have to kill in self-defense. You’re joining a gang after all.”

He nodded, “got it.”

Blake smiled, “great, we’ll get your room ready soon. You’ll start bar work on Monday.”

“Bar work,” he exclaimed, “I thought I was doing spy work or something?”  
Yang smirked, “dems the breaks kid, you start off small before going large. Trust me, my kitten here knows the inner works.”

He looked at Blake in confusion, “kitten?”

“Yeah, she’s taken,” Yang wrapped her arm around her shoulders, “so don’t get any ideas wise guy.”

He saluted her, “my mind is completely blank.”

Yang rolled her eyes while Blake giggled. While they were hammering out the details of his work, Ruby burst into the room.

“YANG, BAD NEWS!”

“What’s going on Rubes?”

Ruby was breathing heavily, “one of our guys was found dead two blocks down on 56th and 8th.”

“Shit, that’s too close to home,” Yang said in frustration.

“And that’s not all, a letter was found on his body,” she held out a letter.

“For who?” Blake said.

“You,” she gave the letter to Blake. Blake was confused, who would send her a letter, let alone leave it on the body of one Yang’s men.

She opened the letter and her blood ran cold, her fingers shaking as she clutched the paper.

Yang saw Blake’s face go spectre white. “What’s going on babe? Who’s it from?”

“He found me,” she said barely above a whisper.

“Who found you babe?”

Her eyes were glued to the paper, and without looking up she uttered, “Adam Taurus, he found me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment. I highly appreciate the feedback.


	4. A heart to heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake deals with the emotional fallout of the letter.

Her knees buckled as she read the letter. No, she thought, he wasn’t supposed to fine me.

“Blake, sweetie, what’s wrong,” Yang said concerned. But she couldn’t hear her, her mind was both a whirlwind and at a dead stop all at once. She had tunnel vision, she could see the letter and only the letter she had gripped in her hands. 

Yang grabbed her when she started to fall, catching her in her arms. “Kitten, talk to me, what’s going on?”

Blake came to herself, but there were tears streaming down her face. “I *sob*, I-I,” she was wailing. Wailing like mother who had lost her child. She trembled in Yang’s arms, unable to say anything. 

Yang scooped her up bridal style, whispering comfort in her ear, “it’s going to be ok, you’ll be fine.” She turned to her men, “unless it’s REALLY important, don’t bother me. I’m taking Blake back to her room.” With a curt nod from everyone in the room, she dashed down the hall to Blake’s dressing room.

—————-  
Yang kicked open the door and placed Blake on her sofa. The plush and softness of the couch had a little effect on her state. Her full blown sobs tapered off into hiccups and half cries.

Yang sat next to her, holding her close so that her head was resting on her chest. “Shhh,” she rubbed and softly patted her back, “it’s ok, you’ll be fine.”

“No I won’t!” Blake gave a feeble attempt to push Yang back, but ended up falling into her arms and sobbing, “he’ll take you, he’ll- he’ll.”

“No he won’t,” she rocked her back and forth gently. “We’ll be fine. I mean it we’ll be fine, he won’t get me, he won’t get Ruby, he won’t get Weiss. We’ll be ok.”

Blake looked up into Yang’s eyes with her tearful ones, “you mean it?”

Yang smiled, “every word doll.”

Blake eyes shimmered with tears, “but how can you be so sure?”

“Hm, what do you mean?”

Blake stood up abruptly, “you have no way to keep that promise!” She was shaking, “you don’t know what he’s like. He’s relentless and cruel!”

Yang shrugged, “seems like the typical asses I deal with.”

“No, he isn’t,” she lifted up her shirt to reveal a deep scar on her abdomen, “who do you think gave me this?”

Yang’s eyes widened, she knew Blake had that scar, but she never divulged how she got it or who gave it to her, “he gave you that?”

Blake nodded, “and you know why he gave it to me.” She dropped her shirt, “because I wouldn’t be his two bit whore!”

The room became dead silent except for Blake’s sobs.

“He, he,” Blake tried to speak, but she crumbled to the floor. Yang stood up slowly, but Blake still flinched at the sudden movement. She wrapped her arms around Blake gently.

“It’s ok,” she whispered, “take your time.”

Yang has never seen Blake break down like this before. She was always so stoic, keeping her past close to her chest, just like her emotions. It took awhile before Yang could get close to her emotionally, but that’s a story for another time. 

Blake cried for twenty minutes before she started to calm down. The entire time Yang rubbed her back and held her, letting her vent out her storm of emotions. When she started reigning in her emotions, she looked up into Yang’s eyes, so full of concern and compassion. She almost started crying again just from her unconditional love and kindness. 

“I’m sorry Yang, *hic*, I’m just so, so scared.”

“Shh, it’s ok babe. Just let it all out,” she hugged her closer, “you know, you have a problem with holding your emotions in. It’s bad for you.”

She gave a watery laugh, “uh huh, I always thought you expressed enough emotions for the both of us.” She looked up at her, “my fireball.”

She chuckled, “even so, keeping all those awful thoughts in your brain is extremely unhealthy.” Yang’s tone became more serious, “you can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?”

“I know,” she leaned into Yang, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

————————-

Yang decided that it was in the best interest of the staff to keep the bar closed that night. She, Weiss, and Winter held meetings the whole afternoon and into the night on security. Weiss did not like the fact that a member of the Dragons died close to their base. What’s even more concerning, is that it wasn’t just some member of another gang getting revenge. It was calculated, with the intention of sending a message.

Ruby was whipping down the bar while Sun cleaned glasses when Blake and Yang emerged from the back room. 

“Blake, are you alright?” Ruby ran to her, “I’ve never seen you break down like that. What was in that letter, who wrote the letter.”

“Give her some space Ruby,” Yang chided her.

“I just wanted to know.”

“And she doesn’t have to tell us if she doesn’t want to.”

“The man who wrote the letter is named Adam Taurus,” Blake answered. Everyone turned their attention to her, the room growing silent as she spoke. “He’s the leader of the White fang, a supposed liberation group, and,” she whispered, “my ex boyfriend.”

Yang gripped her arm in support, but partially to keep her from punching something. She led her to the bar and grabbed her a seat. Ruby sprinted to grab Blake a coke, while Yang ordered a scotch from Sun. She put her hand on Blake’s, “take your time.”

“Mhm,” Blake nodded, “he’s ruthless. He doesn’t care who he has to kill, as long as he gets what he wants. He has drug rings, human trafficking rings, hell, when I was there he had a monopoly on the alcohol trade in his section of town.”

Blake reaches into her pocket, “but according to this letter it seems like that’s not the case anymore.”

Sun piped up, “that’s great, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but now he’s angry,” she looked down, “and he blames me.”

Ruby was confused. “How can he be angry at you, you’ve been out of his life for two years?”

“But apparently not out of mind,” she handed the letter over so Yang, Ruby, and Sun could all read it. As they read, Yang progressively looked angrier, while Sun and Ruby looked confused.

Dear Blake, 

I sincerely hope this letter find you well. Based on the information I’ve gathered, it has. Apparently you’ve sunk so low that you’ve decided to work for some lowly female gang leader. It’s such a same, I had such high hopes for you, but I guess I was wrong.  
You haven’t left my thoughts since you abandoned me all those years ago. I miss you, the White fang has fallen out of favor since you left.  
Maybe if you did as I said then those benefactors would have stayed instead of pulling out their support.  
Nevertheless, you are useful to the cause and we could use your help.  
Please consider coming back. We need you here, I need you here.  
If you don’t respond, I will find you. I have my means.

Your dearest,   
Adam

“That rat bastard,” Yang snarled, “it’s not your fault that he’s a piss poor leader.”

“And from the tone of this letter he sounds like a complete egomaniac,” added Ruby.

“He is,” Blake sighed and took a sip of her drink, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Keep fighting,” a gravely voice responded. Everyone at the bar snapped around to see a tall man with bags under his eyes. “It’s all you can do kid, just keep fighting,” he took a swig from a flask, “it’s the only thing any of us can do.”

Ruby beamed, “Uncle Qrow!” She vaulted over the bar to hug the man.

“Thanks for the words of wisdom sir,” Blake smiled.

“No need for the sir kiddo, how long have we known each other?” He sat down at the bar, “yo blondie.”

“The name’s Sun,” his tail flicked in irritation.

“I need a gin and tonic stat,” he turned to Yang. “As much as I love the heart warming reunion, I came with a message.”

“From who, about what?”

Sun gave him the drink. He took a long swig from his drink, “it’s about Summer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave feedback, I appreciate it.


	5. We need some damn coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow brings Yang and the others up to speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, about the last chapter. I was writing that at 1:00 am and decided, “hey why don’t I throw in this twist for fun.” 
> 
> I was sleep deprived, and when I woke up I realized what I did. Also, chapters may be a bit slower due to school. I’ll try for every other day to two days.
> 
> Well, they say “you must lie in the grave you buried.”
> 
> Anyway, the 1920’s had some fun slang, so I’m going to use it more in the story.

The sound of glass shattering was heard throughout the bar. Everyone whipped around to find Yang’s drink pooling at her feet. 

“You cannot be serious,” she said, her face looked surprised.

“Dead serious kiddo.”

Ruby choked, hiding her face. A stunned silence settled over the room. Except for Sun, because he couldn’t read the room.

“Who’s Summer,” he piped up.

“She was the best torpedo in the Dragons before her disappearance ten years ago,” answered Qrow.

“And my mom,” Ruby added quietly.

Sun leaned on the bar, “so the fact that you heard news about her is good, isn’t it?” The expressions he received said otherwise. He threw his hands up in surrender, “never mind, forget I said anything.” He went down to the end of bar, pretending to clean while obviously still listening.

Qrow turned to Yang, “why did you hire him again?”

“He’s sneaky and could be good for detective work,” she shrugged, adding in a low whisper, ”it was ether this or a Chicago overcoat.”

Qrow nodded in understanding, “got it.”

“Anyway, what news do you have?”

Ruby moved next to Yang to listen. She held Yang’s arm like she did when she was little. It brought Yang to a simpler time, a good time.

“Sissie, when is mama coming back?”

She shook her head to clear away the memories and turned her attention to Qrow, who was downing his drink. Yang tapped her finger in impatiently while Qrow held up his finger signaling to let him finish his drink.

“Uncle Qrow, please,” Ruby insisted, “we have to know what you know.”

He sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair, “I was in a city a couple states over when I heard the rumors. Of a woman in white murdering goons indiscriminately, leaving their wrists slit every time.”

Yang nodded, “sounds like Summer’s calling card, but so what? It could be a serial killer, and how do you know about the white?”

“Because I saw it myself.”

Ruby’s eyebrows nearly shot up into her hairline, “What, you saw mom?”

“I don’t know what I saw kid,” he slammed his drink, “all I know is that I was interrogating a guy and next thing I know is he’s screaming, looking past my shoulder.”

“When I turned around I saw nothing,” he looked haunted, “and when I turned back around the guy was near death.”

“He was babbling about a ‘reaper in white’, and he was bopped right in front of me. A single bullet,” he tapped the center of Yang’s head, “right here, and considering I was standing in front of him, that’s some deadly accuracy.”

The sisters nodded solemnly. Blake rubbed Yang’s arm to comfort her; Ruby looked both stunned and horrified. “Why’s mom killing random goons?”

Qrow shrugged, “I don’t know, but you may want to be careful with your men Yang, if this isn’t Summer we may have a serious problem.”

She snorted, “add it to the pile.” She tapped her knuckles on the wood, “Sun, another strawberry sunrise.”

Qrow talked as Sun made the drink, “we can’t take this lightly, if someone is going around killing goons from other bosses, they could target us.”

“But if it’s mom then she won’t kill our men, right?” Ruby said in a small voice.

“Don’t seem to matter, and this person may not be Summer,” he turned away from her, “and if it is, then it’s not the Summer we know and love.”  
———————  
Ruby retreated to her room, sullen. Sun took over her duties for the night, since they all expected that she won’t be out for awhile.

For Blake and Yang, well... they were blowing off some steam. Blake loved to cuddle in Yang’s lap while she did paperwork. Yang would pet her hair while Blake read some book. Once in a while Blake would nuzzle at Yang’s neck for attention. Sometimes this would lead to kissing, or others things. This time however, Yang was dead quiet, only kissing the top of Blake’s head to acknowledge her affection.

“What’s up, you’re way too silent,” Blake asked. She brushed her hand over Yang’s jawline, “is it about Summer?”

Yang nodded, “and Adam.”

“Oh.” Blake averted her eyes, but Yang brought her back to direct eye contact.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. You didn’t create Adam, he made his own bad decisions that led him to the life he lives.”

“I know, but sometimes I still feel like if I did something more, said something different, maybe...”

“That’s typical abuser crap. I guarantee, no matter what you did you wouldn’t have been able to change him. He is what he is, and the only person who can change him is himself.”

She nodded, “thank you Yang,” she patted the blonde’s head, “it’s always funny hearing you as the voice of reason.”

“What do you mean?” She said indignant.

“Well, you’re always so gun-ho, Weiss and I have to hold you back.”

“And what does Ruby do?”

Blake’s eyes sparkled mischievously, “egg you on.”

Yang threw her head back and laughed, “true enough doll, true enough.”

The door burst open, “hey hey hey, you guys done necking yet or what?” 

“Ah, Coco, good to see you.”

“Great to see you too boss,” she turned to the door, “ay, it’s ok, nothing disgusting in here but these two love birds.”

The brunette was trailed by three other people, a girl and two boys. The girl with rabbit ears waved apologetically at Blake. The two boys snickered at their leaders brashness.

“You act as if you and Velvet aren’t all over each in other in your spare time,” the red head pointed out.

Velvet blushed while Coco scolded the boy. “Can it Fox, or I’ll put you in the ground myself.”

Fox shook his head, “no you wouldn’t.”

She sighed, “You right, you right. If you weren’t one of our best fighters you be wrong.”

A chuckle rippled throughout team CFVY.

“Hey Velvet,” Blake asked, “how are you adjusting to being a moll?”

“It’s just like being someone’s dame, you just don’t talk about their job,” she winked.

Coco wrapped her arm around Velvet, “dats my girl.” She turned her attention back to Yang, “anyway, what did you need of us boss?”

“We have a bit of a situation on our hands. The leader of the White Fang has a vendetta against us.”

“What’s the name of this mook?” Coco adjusted her sunglasses, “we can take him out.”

“No,” Blake’s ears flattened against her head, “he’s far too dangerous with far to many goons. We need you for extra protection around the territory, report anything suspicious.”

“You want us to do recon work?” Yatsuhashi said, doubtful.

Blake stood up, “that’s exactly what we want you to do.”

Coco crossed her arms, “this is under our pay grade, why are you making us do some rookie work?”

“Because,” Yang stood up to her full height, her eyes flashing red, “this is not a request. It is an order. You don’t seem to understand that this man is extremely dangerous. When I meant vendetta I meant it. He’s after Blake and will do anything to hurt her, including taking down the Dragons.” Yang cracked her knuckles, “and if you guys want to stay on the pay grade you do the jobs I tell you to do, Capeesh?”

They nodded quickly. “Will do,” Coco saluted.

Yang’s eyes reverted to purple, “great, thank you so much. Your work is greatly appreciated by the Dragons.”

“Not a problem.”  
“It’s an honor working for you.”  
“I second that.”

Velvet snickered at her teammates readiness to comply. “Speaking of rookie work, what’s the story behind the boy helping Ruby.”

“Yeah, isn’t he some stool-pigeon who was going to end up in a Chicago overcoat?” Fox added.

Yang shook her head, “we decided against it. He wasn’t with any gum shoe or working with the coppers. He’s sneaky, thinks fast on his feet, with a little training he can be a real asset.”

Coco nodded, “understandable.” She turned away, “whelp,have good day.”

“We expect your report by next Friday,” she called out after them.

Coco gave a thumbs up and closed the door. Before they could get a breather, a young boy poked his head in. 

“What’s up Oscar?”

“Um, you have another meeting, with uh, team JNPR.”

Blake and Yang grinned at each other, “send them in. They always bring fun news.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slang translation  
Chicago overcoat- coffin  
Moll- gangster’s girlfriend   
Bop/bumped- Murder, kill  
Torpedo- basically an hit man


	6. JNPR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Blake have a discussion.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SEVERAL PLACES UNDER OUR PROTECTION GOT RANSACKED????” 

Juane sunk into his chair, “well, um, you see...”

Yang slammed her hands onto the desk, “which team had duty that day?”

“CRDL,” Juane hung his head, “we had an emergency at another part of the territory with a port, and they said they could handle it.”

“Looks like they didn’t,” she gritted through her teeth. “And what was there excuse?”

The usually bubbly girl that was Nora rolled her eyes, “they claimed that those businesses didn’t need protection.”

“On what basis?”

She shrugged. Yang glared daggers at Nora’s lack of caring for the situation. Her lover, a Chinese boy named Ren, who was an expert at reading the room stepped in. “Look Yang...”

She directed her daggers to him, “this better be good Ren.”

He cleared his throat, “under our supervision, there are few snags. So, why are we being blamed?”

“Because,” she crossed her arms, “you left your post...”

“To protect another.”

She slammed her desk, “and yet our clients have less faith in us because of this little incident.”

Blake observed the whole situation unfold. Nora looked ready to jump Yang if she yelled at Ren again. Juane was sinking lower in his chair, while Pyhrria looked ready to shoot herself. But something was bothering her. Yang’s teams didn’t have a habit of slacking off, and JNPR had a good reason for running off. Protecting their import stations was just as important , if not more than protecting small businesses. It wasn’t cruelty, just profit. They had taken all the per cautions, alerting another team to the emergency, etc. 

She started thinking about team CRDL rep sheet. Because of her relationship with Yang she had access to almost every file they had. CRDL normally had no problem with protecting businesses, but with a few cases...

“Who were the businesses ran by?” Blake asked Juane.

He stammered, “uh, well, one of them was ran by the Paradise’s, another was a restaurant ran by a really nice fish woman.”

“Oh yeah, her noodles are the best,” Nora chimed in.

The pieces fell into place. Blake’s ears flattened against her head, “they were all Faunus ran, weren’t they?”

Yang almost asked why would that matter until she remembered CRDL’s last incident. They were sent to protect a group of contributors, one of them was a deer Faunus. When a group from another gang attacked the escort to one of the new gin mills, everyone came out unscathed. Except for the Faunus, who was shot in the shoulder and had to get carted away in a meat wagon. Luckily the whole thing was swept under the rug, but CRDL got chewed out for it. Yang thought it was merely an accident, but thinking back, she realized she was wrong.

Blake stepped closer to her, “it wasn’t there fault. They were doing the best they could in the situation. How could they have known they chose the one team who let their views get in the way of their work.” She put her hand on Yang’s shoulder, “CRDL should be the ones punished, not JNPR.”

Yang sighed and fell silent. She turned away from the group and pinched the bridge of her nose. A sign that she was plotting her next move. 

“On behalf of our boss, you are dismissed.” Team JNPR gave a curt nod and hightailed out the door.

She want over to Yang and hugged her around the waist from behind. “Darling, you’ve been too stressed recently. You need to get out more.”

Yang snorted, “yeah, like I have the free time for that. I need to deal with CRDL, the ransacked businesses, upping defenses.”

She fell into a hush. Blake started petting her hair, “you know, there’s this new bookstore that opened a couple blocks over. I was wondering if we could go visit.”

“You know we can’t. With the goon assassin running around along with the White Fang, it’s extremely dangerous.”

“Our lives are dangerous,” she turned Yang to face her. Blake cupped her face, “as long as we continue this path, things will always be dangerous. So why not have a little fun along then way.”

Yang took her hand and kissed the palm. What did I ever do to deserve this angel, “yeah, I guess your right. I’ve been only going out at night recently, I miss the sun.”

“What, the boy behind the bar isn’t ‘sunny’ enough?”

“He’s not sunny, he’s irritating.”

Blake chuckled, “that’s fair. Why don’t we go out after lunch.”

“It’s a date.”

—————

Blake left Yang to finish up some work while she got ready. She closed the door to her dressing room and leaned against it. She smiled to herself, “what did I ever do to deserve her.”

“You don’t.”

Blake went on the defensive, “who’s there?” The room was still, no one replied. Her head was reeling, “show yourself!”

There was a knock on the door, “Hey Blake, are you alright?”

“Ruby!” She ripped open the door, “has there been anyone in my room?”

“Wha- what? No, no one has been in this corridor 

“Blake, is everything alright?” It was Yang, she looked extremely concerned. “You look frazzled.”

“There was someone in my dressing room,” she pointed to the room, “I heard a voice.”

Ruby stepped in tentatively into the dressing room. Everything seemed normal, the closet was closed, the makeup was set up evenly with a couple capsules knocked over. Weird, she’s usually so organized. “Nothing strange, ‘cept some knocked over makeup.”

“You must have knocked them over in a panic,” Yang comforted, holding Blake. But she could see the Blake’s ears were swiveling. The stopped suddenly, and her eyes started down the corridor, but there was no one there.

“No, it couldn’t be,” she murmured.

“It couldn’t be what babe?”

Blake started to sob, clutching Yang’s shirt, “they’re coming for me.”

“Hey, hey, it’s ok. Look, I think you’re right, we need to get out. Deep breathes babe, deep breaths.”

Luckily no one but Ruby was there to witness her meltdown. “I think she’s right. I can hold down the fort, go on and have some fun.”

Blake regained her composure, “ok, ok.” She took a couple more deep breathes, “It’s the stress. It’s the stress that’s making me go crazy.”

“Aw, doll. You’re not crazy,” she kissed the top of her head. “Come on, lets go.”

As they left, Blake could have sworn she heard footsteps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meat wagon- ambulance
> 
> Please leave the feedback. I really appreciate it.


	7. Blake and Yang’s outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang go to a bookstore, and run into some old friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the last chapter was not my best work. I was afraid of falling behind and just forced myself the write it. I was ashamed I posted something that bad, and I hope this chapter makes it up to you all.
> 
> Also, someone pointed out that I spelled Jaune’s name wrong, whoops.
> 
> On the bright side, I made a reference to a couple other fandoms. See if you can guess them;)

“Maybe she was right,” Blake thought as she took in the sun, “maybe I did need some air.”

It was a beautiful day. The street was bustling full of people on their way to work, or possibly to loved one. The shops had out their colorful displays to convince people to buy their wares. It was all so breathtaking, but the most beautiful thing was the woman holding her hand.

Yang typically wore suits while dealing with mafia business. But when she had to go into public, she tried not to draw attention to herself. If a girl was walking around in suits people would glare or take note of her. In their business, keeping a low profile was key.

The golden haired girl was wearing a simple, gray blouse with a skirt and brown overcoat. Blake had to admit that her dear was stunning, no matter wether she wore a fancy suit or ragged slacks and shirt.

Blake on the other hand stood out, at least to Yang. She was wearing a purple dress that glittered when direct sunlight hit it. Her black hat hid her ears from preying eyes, while her flowing black coat kept her warm and comfortable. Yang had discovered that Blake would run a bit cold to normally warm temperatures, so she always wore a coat.

“Ready to go?” Yang asked.

Blake nodded and adjusted her arms so that their arms were linked. “Let’s go. The book store is up two and over five.”

As they walked they chatted about a number of things. Politics, racial inequality, their favorite foods. They were the kind of couple that talked about anything, no matter how dark or light it was. They were comfortable with each other, happy even.

Blake never felt this with Adam. She felt like if she said the wrong thing, she would be punished. So she kept her silent, but even that didn’t please him. With Yang, she could ramble on about her favorite books or authors, and Yang would pay attention with no qualms. The way Yang looked at her made her feel loved, cared for, that no matter what she said Yang would always protect her, and her she.

“Hello, Blake in there?” Yang waved her hand in front of Blake’s face, “everything all right? You seem lost in thought.”

“Mhm, just thinking.”

“About what?”

She smiled, “about how you treat me.”

“Then I must be awful considering how quiet you are,” Yang joked.

“Don’t say that, you’re wonderful to me. You care about me and listen to me when I ramble. I feel safe to speak my mind around you.”

Yang laughed, “of course Doll, I love you. Why wouldn’t I do any of those things. Kinda comes with the whole thing, don’t it?”

Her eyes cast downward, “some don’t see it that way.” 

“Then those people don’t deserve to be in love; those people have a tendency to die alone, or with a partner that’s glad to see them go.”

Blake chuckled, “I guess they do.” They walked in silence the rest of the way. Yang noticed Blake’s eyes lit up when they came to the bookstore. According to Blake, Natsume books is a used book store packed to the gills with every type of literature one could ask for. Fiction, biography, science, politics, the works. 

When Yang stepped past the threshold, she knew Blake wasn’t kidding. The whole place smelled of ink and paper, naturally. The shelves were packed to the ceiling, and some piles looked ready to teeter over. Blake’s head looked ready to explode. There were so many options she didn’t know where to begin.

A young girl with green hair and eyes rushed over to greet them. “Welcome to Natsume books, how can I help you?” 

Blake snapped out of her amazement, “I’m just looking. I haven’t been to a bookstore in a long time, and I heard about you from a friend. What would you recommend?”

The girl’s eyes lit up and grabbed Blake’s hand, “do you like fiction?”

Startled, “yeah, I love fiction.” 

The girl noticed her wince and backed away. “Sorry, I’m just excited. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no, it’s fine, see” Blake grabbed her hand. “What’s your name by the way?”

The girl grinned and pulled her along, “My name is Kako, please follow me.”

Blake laughed as the girl eagerly lead her to a section of the store like an excited puppy. 

Yang smirked as she watched her girlfriend led away to the back of the store. She deduced that she wouldn’t be seeing her bookworm of a lover for while, so she wandered about the store picking up and reading through different stories and genres. One book caught her in particular. The spine was colorful, and it looked pretty hefty. She slid it out of the shelf and almost immediately put it back, but she hesitated.

The book was titled, “a guide for new parents.” On most days Yang would dismiss it out of hand. How could she be a mom after all? She was the leader of a gang, a extremely dangerous job to be associated with, even if you don’t want to be part of the business. Plus, she didn’t even know if Blake wanted kids.

But nevertheless she examined the book. She flipped through the pages, eyeing the woman holding their children; in each one she imagined Blake holding their child. Yang imagined it would have Blake’s soft dark hair and her purple eyes. Would they be a bookworm like Blake, or a extrovert like Yang? 

She snuck the book under her arm and picked up a couple others, mostly cooking and music. When she rung up at the register she asked the man there for a bag; she packed it just so so that the cover of the parenting book would be concealed.

——————-

Blake loved talking to Kako. She was young and incredibly sweet with a tremendous love of books. She almost talked all four of Blake’s ears off when she described her favorite series. Needless to say, Blake was hooked. She bought the first two books along with a couple others she found. She promised Kako that she would be back soon. After all, she would need to know what happens next in her new series.

Yang and Blake waved goodbye and decided to head to a local cafe for tea. Laden with their purchases, Blake talked about her new friend and book titles.

“You wouldn’t believe the chatterbox she is. She seemed so shy at first, but then I mentioned ‘the golden eye’ and she started grinning like the Cheshire. She suggested ‘the harlequin king’, apparently it’s really good. What did you get?”

She shrugged, “just some cook books, I need to get better. I also found some books full of music that you might like.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Blake said.

“But I wanted to,” Yang grinned at her. She leaned down a nuzzled her nose, “besides, what’s wrong with a little extra music in the repertoire?”

Blake raised and eyebrow, “ and Weiss isn’t going to be mad. She’s my main song writer after all.”

“But you wrote ‘bumblebee’.”

“Fair, fair.” Blake smiled. 

The street was deserted, they could openly show affection without any judgement Blake thought. Just then, she heard footsteps directly behind her, and a click of a gun. “YANG, GET DOWN!” She shoved her to the ground when she heard shots ring out. They scrambled into an alley way behind a dumpster.

Yang scrabbled to get up while trying not be hit, “who the bloody hell is trying to gat us down?”

“Take a wild guess,” Blake snarked. She rummaged through her coat to pull out the knife she was hiding.

Yang’s eyes widened, “you packed a weapon?”

“And you didn’t?”

“Of course I did,” she pulled a gun out from her coat, “just wasn’t expecting to use it.”

“Blake,” a voice called out, “please come back to us, we need you.”

“No,” she whispered, “it can’t be.”

“Who it it?”

“Ilia.”

“Who?”

“She was my best friend during my time as part of the White fang. Ilia was one of the few reasons I stayed. I was afraid that if I didn’t stay, she would get hurt or worse,” she whispered. Her ears twitched in the direction of footsteps.

“Blake, I implore you, please come back to us. Nothing has been the same since since you left. We’ve been on a downhill slide and could really use your help. Without you, the White fang might perish.

“Good riddance,” Yang muttered. Blake nudged her and held a finger to her lips.

“Adam is losing his mind. We all fear the worst if he doesn’t get some sort of stability soon. You were his stability Blake, he needs you.”

There was a pause, then softly, “I need you.”

Blake and Yang exchanged looks. Blake wanted to help Ilia, she truly did. But doing so may harm ether her or Yang. Yang reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind one of Blake’s ears. You can do this, I believe in you.

She took a deep, steadying breath. “Ok Ilia, I’ll come back, just change back so I can see you.”

“Step out with your hands up and I’ll think about it.”

She stepped out from her hiding spot, leaving the knife with Yang. “Ok, I’m not hiding anymore. Can I see you, please?”

Ilia materialized barely two feet in front of her. She was almost as Blake had left her, but with some scarring and a haunted look in her eyes. Blake felt a pang of remorse in her chest. She didn’t want to leave Ilia, but her very life was in danger if she stayed.

“Are you really coming back?” She said, hopeful.

It broke her heart to say it, “I cannot go back.”

Ilia began spotting red in anger, “why not?”

Blake’s eyes began to tear up, “he would kill me. Please, you have to understand he would kill me.”

She scoffed, “you act as if he won’t kill you anyway. If you come back, there’s still a chance he’ll let you live.” She smiled and outstretched her hand, “we can be together.”

“And if he doesn’t let me live?” She could see Ilia’s expression falter, “and if he does let me live, do you really think he’ll let us see each other? He knows you’re my best friend, he’ll ether use it against me or as a way to punish me.”

Ilia stepped back, “no, that’s not true. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Look in your heart, you know it’s true. Come back with me and there’s a chance you’ll die too.”

She stomped her foot in frustration, “what other choice do I have? Run away? From the White fang? You of all people should know that leaving is a death sentence!”

“And what if you had protection?” Yang chimed in. She stepped out from the dumpster, gun still in hand. “Sorry doll, my legs were getting cramped, and,” she looked at Ilia, “I always help someone in need.”

“Who are you?” She spat.

“You can call me Goldie, and I can get you away from the White fang.”

“Bullshit, how do you think you of all people can help me escape them.” She started to raise her gun.

Blake stepped in between them, “she helped me. I know it sounds to good to be true. But this woman is the leader of the Dragons.”

Her breath got caught in her throat, “the Dragons. Her, the leader?”

“What, can’t believe a girl is running one of the most respected gangs in the city?”

“No, it’s not that,” she trailed off. She lowered her gun, “you can really help me escape?”

Yang nodded, “yup, got connections up the wazoo when I need them. Pull a couple of strings and you could be off on the next train out of town by tonight.” She extended her hand, “what do you say, shake on it?”

Ilia started at her, then at Blake, and back to Yang. “You can seriously help me disappear?”

“We promise,” Blake assured her.

Ilia took Yang’s hand and shook, “it’s a deal, you help me disappear and I’ll tell you whatever you need to know.”

“Great, come with me, I know a place we can set you up in for the day. The couple who runs the joint are real nice folks. Four daughters and a son, if that’s alright by you.”

Ilia grinned, “that’s fine by me.” She turned to Blake, “thank you, so much.”

“Just promise me one thing, that’ll you’ll never go back, please.”

Ilia nodded, “going back to them is the last thing I would do right now.”

A gunshot rang out as Ilia crumbled to the floor. Blake screamed and caught Ilia. She shrieked, “Ilia, Ilia!”

Yang picked her up bridal style, “nothing the doctor can’t fix. Grab the books and come on!” The couple ran as fast as they could out of the alley, praying that they still had time.

———-  
They dashed so quickly out of there they didn’t notice a man’s screams from the top of the roof. “Please, I’m sorry, don’t hurt me!” 

A slice.

Then all was quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gat- gun
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and your support. Please leave some feedback.


	8. A change of seasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake gets help for Ilia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started this I wasn’t expecting much, maybe a little over a hundred hits, maybe one comment. The fact the this little piece has been read over 1000 times is astonishing to me. Thank you all for your support.
> 
> Bumblebee is one of my favorite ships, and I hope to do them and the other characters justice.

People were jumping out of their way as they ran at break neck speed. “Move, outta the way,” Yang was shouting, “coming through.” She was trying her best not to hurt Ilia any further. Blake was running besides Yang, not wanting to slow her down. She was so worried about Ilia; she was afraid that this would drive her back to joining the White Fang.

The girls reached a café called “Beacon”, it was where they were originally going to go to lunch, but plans had changed, and they were in desperate need of help.

They darted into an alley adjacent to the building. When they reached a service door to the café, Yang kicked at the door. “Open up!”

A panel slid open to reveal the eyes of the girl, “what’s the password?” she said cheekily.

“Jinn I swear to god where is your mother?” Yang snarled, “we have a serious emergency and we could really use her help.” She lifted Ilia gently.

“Please,” Blake said, “we need Salem.”

“Dear, who’s at the door,” a voice called out from behind the door.

“It’s Yang and Blakey, someone’s hurt.” A quick set of footsteps ran to the door and ripped it open. Salem has her near white hair in a bun, it looked like she just woke up. 

“Jinn, next time when someone knocks, get me or your father,” Salem scolded. She took Ilia from Yang’s arms, trying not to jostle her. Ilia moaned in pain.

Blake’s ears flattened against her head, “is she going to be ok?” She guessed that her concern and fear was written all over her face. Yang held her close, stroking her hair. Salem looked at her with a kind smile.

“We’ll do all we can. Just leave it to us.” She turned into the room and started barking orders. “Jinn, go get your father. June, could you please get mommy’s tool bag? Oh, Amber, can you please get Iris and keep her busy? You know how she likes to poke into Mommy’s and Daddy’s medical practices.” The girls scampered about taking little notice of the couple entering their living room. Except for Jinn, who rushed over to hug Blake when a disheveled man walked down a set of steps.

The man adjusted his glasses, “Ah,Yang Xao Long and Blake Belladona, how are you this fine afternoon?” 

“Ozpin, Not as good as it could have been,” Yang said, patting Jinn’s head. “You have an emergency bullet removal. Salem already took her into the surgical room.”

He nodded, “Understood, we’ll be done by later this evening. Can we trust you with children?”

“You trusted us with Oscar, how much damage can we do here?” Yang joked. Ozpin nodded and headed in the direction of where Salem was.

Blake let out a heavy sigh and sank to the floor. She put her face in her hands, “oh god, what have I done.”

Yang sat down next to her, “you didn’t do anything wrong. How were we supposed to know that there was a sniper on the building.”  
“But I have these,” she gestured to the cat ears under her hat, “I should have been able to hear them.”

Jinn clambered onto her lap, reaching up, she took off Blake’s hat. “Maybe it’s because this covered them up.” She threw the hat to the side, “there, all better.” She hugged her, “don’t be sad Blakey, Mama and Papa are the best doctors in the whole wide world! Your friend will be fine!”

Blake chuckled at the girl’s optimism, “I guess there is some truth to that.” She smiled at the young girl, who grinned right back.

Yang felt her heart melt at this interaction. It felt so domestic, so homey.Her mind wandered back to the parenting book, how Blake would be an amazing mother. She was so lost in thought that it took Blake a couple times to get her attention.

“Yang, Yaaang, is everything alright?”

“Hm, yeah. Just thinking.”

“About what?” Blake adjusted Jinn on her lap so she could reach her ears. Jinn was not paying attention at all, too focused on petting Blake’s head and ears.

“Stuff. You know, the future.”

Blake side-eyed her, “the future?”

“Yeah, you moving in with me, marriage,” she added quietly, “kids.”

Her eyebrows shot up so far that they almost disappeared into her hairline, “kids? Really, you, thinking about kids? We’re not even married.”

Yang held up her hands in surrender, “it was just a random thought, no need to get your ears in a twist.” She looked away from her, trying to shield the hurt in her eyes. She knew deep down Blake wouldn’t want to have kids. Their lives were too dangerous and-

“I never thought you would want to be a mom,” Blake mumbled.

Yang whipped her head around, “what?”

“I thought you wouldn’t want kids. Our lives are so dangerous, and you always seemed like having as few connections as possible made your life easier. I mean, there are some days we don’t know if we’re going to see the next. Raising kids seem like one of those normal people things we cannot do.” Blake cradled Jinn in her arms, the young girl was falling asleep, her eyelids slowly closing.

She placed a hand on her shoulder, “I get where you’re coming from babe. Our lives are dangerous. But I mean, look at Ozpin and Salem, they run a clinic for mobsters and they have five kids. Maybe if they can do it, so can we.”

Blake smiled, but her smiled held some sadness in it, “let’s take things one day at a time alright. Worrying too much about the future will put both of us in a tizzy.”

Yang nodded, “alright.”

“Blakey! Yang! Iris, Amber, Blakey and Yang are here!” A small voice called out. Three small girls ran to the pair, grinning like little maniacs. The head girl ran into Yang’s arms, knocking the wind out of her.

“Hey little June, how have you all been,” Yang said, “behaving for your parents?”

“We’ve been great, but we missed you,” she said, completely dodging the second question.

The smallest girl walked up to Yang, “can we braid your hair? 

“Now why would I let you do that?”

“Blakey cut hers, but yours is still long. Pleassssse, please, please,” the girl gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes.

“Alright Iris, just this once,” her eyes sparkled, “but I have a condition.”

The girl titled her head, it reminded Yang strongly of a bird, “what’s that?”

“You have to defeat me first,” and she launched her self at the girl. Iris squealed and ran from her, smiling. A game of tag ensued among the girls. Jinn wriggled out of Blake’s arms to join the game. Blake sat back as she watched the four girls try to take down Yang by clambering onto her, while Yang would catch them and throw them gently into the air. It lasted for about half an hour before the small girls got tired, but Amber wasn’t having that. She head butted Yang in the stomach like a billy goat, which knocked some wind out of her.

“Yargh, you got me,” Yang said dramatically clutching her chest, “clearly you four maidens are too mighty for this old dragon.” She pretended to collapse onto the floor, “you win, I surrender.”

The small girls cheered. “I’ll get the braiding supplies,” Iris crowed.

——————-  
When Salem and Ozpin walked back out into the living room, the sight that greeted them was quite amusing.

Yang had her hair in a multitude of different braids and was playing in the middle of an intense game of uno between the four girls and Blake. 

“Babe, I’m so sorry to betray you,” she put down a card, “draw four, and the color is yellow.”

Blake threw her hat at her, “how dare you. I only had one card left, I thought you loved me?”

“All is fair in love and Uno my dear.” 

The young girls giggled, but June was pouting. “Why did you have to make it yellow,” she grumbled.

They all laughed at June’s outrage, including Ozpin and Salem. Blake and Yang saw them and scramble up.

“How is she doing?” Blake asked, eager to know.

“She’ll make a full recovery, but she can’t move for a couple days.”  
“Days,” Blake exclaimed.

Ozpin nodded, “yes, days. To make a full recovery she needs rest. Too much movement will open up the stitching, and cause more damage. Luckily, the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs, so there’s that blessing.”

“Can we go talk to her?”

He shook his head, “she’s resting right now. The surgery took a lot out of her, but I bet she’ll be up in a jiffy.”

“Oh,” Blake hung her head. 

Yang walked over and hugged her from behind, “can we at least see her?”

“Of course dear, right this way,” Salem led them to small medical room, where Ilia was lying on the operation table. Her shirt was cut away to expose her midriff, which had gauze wrapped around it.

“Salem, you’ve done so much for us. I would hate to ask more,” Yang said.

“My dear, you have helped us with enough. What do you need?”

“This girl was once part of the White Fang, however we convinced her to defect. That’s when she was shot. We were wondering if you could keep her a couple days, just enough time to sort out her situation?”

“That’s not a problem, I’m sure the girls would love another house guest.”

Blake tore her eyes away from Ilia, “thank you so much. If there’s anything we could do, tell us, alright?”

Salem held up her hand, “I know how busy you two are. It’s alright.”

Blake and Yang pulled up chairs so that they could sit next to Ilia. Blake was hunched over, her face in her hands. Yang leaned on her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her.

“What are we going to do? It’s not safe for her outside the city, the White fang will be hunting her now that they probably know of our plans.They don’t exactly take to defecting well.”

Yang nodded, “I have an idea, but she may not like it,” gesturing to the unconscious girl.

She furrowed her brow, “what do you have in mind?”

“She comes work for us.”

“What?” Blake said, indignant, “you really think she’ll go for that.”

She shrugged, “well, she’s backed into a corner. She can’t leave the city or she might die, going back to the White Fang is certain death. What choice does she have? I already have an idea about what she can do.”

“What’s the plan?” a raspy voice interjected.

Blake shot up, “Ilia!” She ran over and hugged her friend.

“Ow ow ow ow, be carful,I got shot, remember?”

Blake wasn’t listening, “I’m so sorry Ilia. I didn’t want to leave you, I really didn’t. You were my best friend in that awful place. I just couldn’t take it anymore. All those innocent people getting hurt, Adam, I’m so so so sorry I left you to suffer alone. Could you ever forgive me?”

A beat of silence, Blake started to tear up, then, a hand started carding through her hair. “I forgot how soft your hair was, and you got a haircut.” Ilia smiled, “it looks nice. Though I kind of miss the long hair. Remember when it got so cold that you used it as a cloak.”

She nodded, “yes, and you would use my hair as a pillow because ours were terrible.”

Ilia giggled, “our lives used to be so simple.” She looked away, a haunted look in her eyes, “but not anymore.”

“Our lives may no longer be simple, but they can be happy.” 

Ilia looked back at Blake, confused, “how could our lives ever be happy?”

Yang stepped forward, “I may know of a way, allow me to formally introduce myself, Yang Xao Long, leader of the Dragons and possibly your next employer.”

Ilia cocked an eyebrow, “employer?”

“Yup. You’ll have a steady income, all you have to do is work at our main speakeasy.”

“Doing what?” She sounded suspicious of her.

“We need to up our defenses, and you’re perfect for guard duty. You can blend into the shadows just like Blake. Sure, may not be as glamorous as some of the missions the White Fang sent you on, but it’s decent,” she winked, “and you get to watch Blake sing every night so there’s that bonus. Have you ever heard her sing?” She did a chef’s kiss, “beautiful.”

“You’re singing again?” Tears started rolling down her face. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, “and I love it too. This is a great opportunity for you. Please think about it. I would love to be able to see you again.”

“Well,” Ilia snorted, “what’s your definition of ‘see’”?

The girls broke out into a laughing fit. Yang assumed that it was an old inside joke they had. This was good, great even. Blake would have her best friend back, and Yang would have a new body guard. Simple, clean, it couldn’t help but bring a smile to her face.

“Um, I have a question,” Ilia directed to Yang, “where am I going to live? I can’t exactly get an apartment.”

Yang waved away her concern with a wave of her hand, “the place where you’re working is situated in a hotel I own, we can set you up in one of the suites on the higher floors.”

“Is that staff, you know,” she gestured to herself and Blake, “friendly to us?” 

“They better be,” Yang hit her fists together, eyes glowing red, “no one disrespects my girl and gets away with it.”

“Wait,” she looked at Blake, “her girl?”

Blake’s face turned red. “Yeah,” she smiled, “her girl.”

Ilia’s jaw dropped as she gaped between her and Yang. Her expression made them laugh.

“Well, I never thought I would see the day,” she smiled, her head hanging. Yang thought she looked sad, like she missed out on an opportunity. But she lifted her head and looked at Blake, “does she treat you well?”

She nodded, “I’ve never been happier.”

“Good,” she gave a curt nod, “good.” She turned her attention to Yang, glaring daggers, “if I find out you hurt her, you’ll be dead.”

“If I hurt her I will let you kill me, trust me.”

Her eyes softened, “alright. Guess I work for you now.”

“Great, but you can’t start work for a few days.”

“What, why?”

“You got shot.”

“Oh, yeah.” Her response left Blake laughing on the floor.

——————-  
Salem insisted they stayed the night. After some prodding they relented. Yang had a messenger send for Oscar, “no reason we can’t have a nice little family reunion.”

And that’s how they ended up at the Pine table, eating chicken Marsala and listening to the girls argue over which breed of horse was better.

“Clydesdale!” June insisted.

“Nuh-huh, Appaloosas! They have a funnier name and look like Dalmatians!” Amber argued.

“I prefer the Baluchi, they look cute,” Iris said quietly.

“Well any horse is a good horse,” Jinn said, nodding as if she just won the argument.

Salem, Ozpin, and Oscar all chuckled at the girls’ arguing.

“Of all the things they could argue about, they argue about horses,” Blake whispered to Oscar.

“Yeah, this honestly isn’t the strangest argument I’ve seen. Last time I was here they were arguing over the best medieval torturing devices.”

“How do they know anything about that?” Yang asked.  
“Mom.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “that’s fair.”

The trio laughed when an emergency news report came on the radio.

“A man was found dead earlier today on the top of a roof in the downtown area. He appeared to be part of the Faunus terrorist group the White Fang according to the mask that was found at the scene. He was found next to a sniper rifle, however he was found stabbed in the throat with his wrists slit open. This is a third incident this past month with that was found murdered in this fashion. This leaves many questions to be answered, who is committing these murders?Why are they targeting the members of the White Fang? Only time will tell.”

“Well, he won’t be reporting back,” a voice cut in. Ilia was leaning against the door frame, trying her best to mask the pain.

“Ilia dear, you aren’t supposed to up and about,” she rushed over to her patient, “here let me pull you a chair.”

“Thank you Mrs.Pine, you are too kind. Kindness I don’t deserve.”

“Nonsense dear, you deserve the upmost respect. June dear, can you grab a chair?”

“Yes Mama!” The small girl rushed to grab and chair, placing it next to her. Ilia sat down with a little help. She gave the child a small smile, unsure on how to act. But June had that covered, “Hi, I’m June. That’s Iris, Jinn, Amber, and our older brother Oscar. You’re Ilia, Mommy’s patient, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” she was a bit flabbergasted. 

Iris took her plate and loaded it with food, “you need to eat to get your strength back, that’s what Mama always said. Lucky for you Daddy is the best cook so keeping it down won’t be hard.”

“Oh,” she took the plate, “thank you, you didn’t have to do that.”

“That’s just Iris for you,” Jinn chimed in, “she loves helping others, even if they don’t ask for it. She wants to be like Mama, so much so that we had to keep her back from sneaking into the surgery room.”

“Jinn, stop that,” Iris whined.

“What? I’m right aren’t I?”

“Girls, behave,” Ozpin scolded, “we have guests present.”

A chorus of ‘sorry papa’ went around the room. 

“Um, Miss Ilia,” Amber pulled in her sleeve,

“What is it?”

“I overheard you were part of the White Fang, are you a Faunus like Blakey?”  
She stiffened and looked at Blake, asking with her eyes of she was safe. She nodded, “you’re safe here.”

She nodded, and shifted her skin to a light purple hue. “I’m a chameleon Faunus, I can blend in with human society without having to hide any physical attributes. Although sometimes I can’t control my emotions, so I turn different colors.

Amber’s eyes went wide as saucers, “that’s...”

Ilia winced waiting for the outburst, but all she got was excited and astounded gasps.

“That’s so cool!” Amber shouted gleefully. The other girls were equally if not even more excited.

“Can we braid your hair while it changes color?”  
“Can you change one body part at a time or does it have to be all at once?”  
“Can you turn rainbow?”

“Girls, girls, stop bombarding her with questions. Let her rest,” Salem chided. She turned to her, “I’m sorry about them.”

“It’s fine,” she was grinning ear to ear, “really, I never had anyone this happy over what I can do. Most just.... run away.”

“Well I think those people are stupid,” Jinn declared. “You’re super cool, just like your powers.”

Blake chuckled and looked at her. Ilia couldn’t stop smiling, and she didn’t for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate the feedback.


	9. Why don’t we welcome the new guest?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilia gets used to her new situation.

The trio said their goodbyes to their kind hosts.

Amber was hugging Blake around the knees, “promise that you’ll come visit?”

She stroked Amber’s hair, “of course. We would love to come visit.”

“And bring Ilia!”

She chuckled, “I’ll bring Ilia if she wants to come.”

The girls turned to Ilia, pleading with their eyes. Her skin had a faint tinge of red, “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

They cheered and ran to hug her. Yang looked on at the scene with Salem and Ozpin, smiling. “You know, if you guys ever need a break, tell us and we’ll see when we’re free.”

“We may take you up on that,” Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, “as much as I love children, I don’t know why Salem has so many.”

Salem nudged him in the stomach, causing him to spit out his coffee. “They’re your fault too you know.”

He nodded, “yes but....” She kicked him the shin, “you’re right, you’re right. Now could you refrain from hitting me.”

“If I feel like it.”

Yang was on the cusp of breaking out into laughter when a car pulled up. “That’s us, thank you again for all your help.”

“It was not a problem, we love to help out the Dragons whenever we can,” Salem said, “you’ve really helped a lot of people, people who couldn’t fend for themselves. Without you, this half of the city would be in ruins.”

“Aww, thanks,” she scratched the back of her head, “helping is what we do.”

“Mhm, well then, I think it’s best if you run along. Taiyang is looking antsy.” 

“Will do, Blake, Ilia, time to go!”

“Roger that,” Ilia called out, “sorry little ones, I have to go.”

“Bye bye, come back soon.”

“Will do,” she shot one last smile before running to the car after Blake.  
——————  
Taiyang hugged Yang when she got on the passenger side of the car.

“Dad”, she struggled against his embrace, “cut it out, what’s this for.”

“I’m just so glad you’re ok. I heard about everything from Ozpin.” He let go and turned to Blake, “how are you doing? Everything a-ok?”

“Yes Taiyang, everything is fine.” She turned to Ilia, “this is Yang and Ruby’s father, Taiyang, this is my friend, Ilia.”

“Pleasure to meet you Ilia, how’s that wound?”

“Um, fine sir.”

He waved his hand dismissively, “no need for the ‘sir.’ Just call me Tai, we’re family now.”

“Alright,” she murmured.

“Ignore him, he’s always been like this. Way to casual for his own good,” Yang said.

Tai swatted at her arm, “don’t be a smart ass.” He put the car into drive, “where to first?”

“The hotel,” she turned to smirk at Blake, “I need a serious cat nap.”

Blake kicked the back of her seat as she snickered.  
———————————-  
When they got back to the hotel, the trio headed to the elevator. Yang hit the button that would bring them to the second most highest floor. “Our employees who don’t have their own flat stay in the hotel.”

Ilia furrowed her brow, “Why, wouldn’t you have less rooms for guests?”

“In all honestly, it’s simpler and in a way, safer. With employees on the grounds, we have people on call if anything goes wrong.”

“Like an attack...” she trailed off.

Yang crossed her arms, “oh please, like anyone would be that stupid to invade this place. As I said, I have goons stationed around the hotel. Hell, the guy at the check in desk has a machine gun.”

“Wait what-“

“And we’re here!” Yang cut Ilia off, “this is the floor you’ll be staying on for the time being. Your room is number 2725,” she guided her to the door. Just then, a boy popped his head out of one of the adjacent room.

“Wha’s going on,” he slurred. The boy still had sleep in his eyes, his hair mussed up. Though when he caught sight of Ilia, the sleep disappeared. “Hey, who’s this?” He stepped out and reached his hand out, “the name’s Sun, how about you sweetheart?”

Blake stiffened, but smiled, “her name is Ilia, she’s a long time friend of mine.”

“Well, well, well, you make excellent friends Blake.” He directed towards Ilia, “so, you seeing anyone?”

Ilia giggled. Yang looked unamused, while Blake was trying to hold in a belly laugh. “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

He widened his eyes in mock shock, “What? A cutie like you doesn’t have a boyfriend?”  
She shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek. “No, I’m not really interested.”

“I bet I can make you interested,” he winked.

Ilia’s face grew red from trying not to laugh. She was trying hard, but by god she was failing. The roots of her hair were turning pink from his attempts to whoo her. Yang had covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her amused expression. 

“You really couldn’t,” Blake interjected. “I mean you seriously could not.”

That last statement let Sun finally connect the pieces. His face fell along with his tail. “Oh,” he said dumbly. His reaction was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Ilia. Her hair turned bright bubblegum pink as she doubled over in laughter.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my god,” tears were leaking out of her eyes, “I can’t breathe, Blake help,” she was fanning herself, trying to stop the laughter. 

But Blake was to busy laughing herself. She was clutching her side, “Sun, I’m so sorry, but you have to admit this is hilarious.” She leaned onto Yang, not even trying to contain her laughter.

Yang rolled her eyes, “Alright, alright hon, I think he gets it. Let’s stop mocking the poor boy and show Ilia her new room.” She ushered the girls into the room, who were still laughing. “Sorry about them, but from our perspective you hitting on a lesbian is hilarious.”

He scratched the back of his head, “first Ruby, now her, man I have the worst luck.”

She wheeled her head around, her eyes glowing red, “what did you say about my sister?”

“Oh wow, would you look at the time, gotta go catch up on my rest” he turned on his heel, quickly closing the door.

She snorted, “idiot.”

—————————  
When Ilia finally collected herself, she realized she was standing in the middle of a very beautiful room. There was a wrought iron bed with a curtain for privacy. The kitchen was neat, every essential item for cooking save actual food. The curtains were white and red brocade. The coffee table was in the center of the room with four cushy arm chairs, one on each side.

Blake put her hands behind her back, “what do you think? Do you.... like it?”

Ilia ran to the bed and flopped face down into the mattress. She said something that was muffled by the pillows.

“What was that?”

She picked her head up and grinned, “I love it.”

“That’s great,” Yang stepped into the room. “Glad you like it.”

Ilia sprang up and rushed into her arms. Yang caught her in a hug, she felt tears staining her shirt. “Thank you so much,” Ilia sniffled.

“It’s honestly not a problem,” Yang heard her sniffle again, “we’re happy to have you here.”  
Blake put a hand on her back, “honestly, we are happy you’re here.”

Ilia stopped sniffling and gave her a watery smile. Her eyes began to droop as she yawned.

“Time for bed, you must be tired,” Blake cooed. “Is it ok for Yang to pick you up?” Ilia nodded, clearly too tired to care. Yang scooped her up and bridal style, making sure not to jostle her too much. She walked Ilia over to the bed and laid her down gently. She sat down on on side of her while Blake stood on the other side. 

When she began to move away, Ilia reached out and grabbed her hand. “Please,” she said weakly, “stay until I fall asleep.”

She smiled, “you’re such a baby sometimes.”

She hummed in agreement, “you act like you didn’t act like this.”

“She’s got a point babe.” Blake glared at her as she sat down. 

Ilia grasped her hand, as if to make sure she stayed there. “Can you stay too Yang, you’re warm.”

She chuckled, “sure thing.” She took the blanket from the edge of the bed and pulled it onto Ilia. “Get some rest.”

Her eyes dropped closed as she pulled the blanket tighter to herself.

Blake and Yang sat there for some time until her snoring became regular. They extracted themselves from her grip, and quietly excused themselves from the room.

———————  
When they shut the door behind them, they were wearing matching grins.

Yang was the one to break the silence, “is that what parenthood feels like? Cause I think it’s great.”

Blake shook her head, smiling, “I guess this might be one part of it.”

Yang held her head low, trying to conceal her expression. Blake was always good at reading her expressions, this time was no different.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting as if you have a bee in your brain.”

“Um, I guess that’s what it feels like.” She paused,“I actually have a question to ask you.”

“Hm, what it it?” 

Well, here goes nothing, “I want you to move in with me.”

“What?”

“I mean, I want to share a room. I guess we already ‘live’ in the same building, but I would love to-“

“Alright.”

Yang snapped her head around, “what?”

“I would love to share a room with you,” she blushed, “my bed’s been feeling a bit cold anyway.” She felt herself being picked up by the waste, “wah, Yang, stop that. There are people sleeping.”

“Come on, you can’t let a girl be happy,” she stuck her bottom lip out.

“Well,” she stoked the top of the blonde’s head, “I think that would be fine, just don’t wake the others up.”

“Too late,” a chipper voice cut in. Ruby was standing in front of her room, “guess I better help you move, huh Blake?”

She knew that saying no wasn’t an option, especially when Ruby was grinning like that. “The help would be appreciated, thank you Ruby.”

“Yay,” she ran over to hug the couple, “this is the best day ever, and I bet the night will be even better!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, I would love the feedback.


	10. A homey situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake moves into Yang’s room

Blake was caught in a hug between the two sisters. Ruby was grinning and laughing while hugging her from behind, digging her face into the small of her back because Yang had her at the waist. But the blond was sporting a bigger grin than her red haired counterpart.

“This will be great! Now you and Yang don’t have to move rooms every time you have a sleepover!”

“Yeah, that’s why I- YANG!”

The girl in question was digging her face into Blake’s bosom.She looked up and grinned cheekily, “what? They’re soft and warm.”

Her face went redder than Ruby’s cloak. She sputtered, “Wha-? Yang stop that, we’re in public!” She tried to push her away, but Yang has a strong grip on her hips.

But not strong enough, because Ruby pulled her away with a firm yank. “Yang,” she scolded, “don’t do that to Blake, you know she doesn’t like that.” She snuggled her face into her hair, holding her like how a small child would hold a dog, “look, you made her sad.”

Yang thought she looked more annoyed than sad. Her cat ears were flat against her head and she had this ‘I’m about to kill everyone in this room’. You know the one, typically worn by cats who were just given a bath. “Uh, Rubes, you may want to put her down if you don’t want to get scratched.”

“Oh, sorry Blake,” she gently put down a still very annoyed Blake.

“Thank you Ruby,” she nodded curtly. “And you,” she pointed an accusatory finger at her girlfriend, “never again in public, especially around employees, Capeesh?”

Yang stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down bashfully, “sorry hun, I don’t know what got into me. Got a bit excited, that’s all.”

Blake let out a stream of air through her nose. Then quietly, “I know, just not again in public.” She walked next to Yang and whispered in her ear, “but private is another story.”

“Hey!” Ruby cut in, “is she gonna respect your personal space from now on?”

Not breaking eye contact with Yang, “trust me, she will. She usually does,” she patted her cheek, “just a slip of judgement on her part.”

“Great! Now let’s go get your stuff.” She rushed down the hall past the couple, completely ignoring how flustered Yang looked.

“Yes, let’s go move my stuff,” Blake smirked, “mind helping?”

Yang nodded, breathless. “Whatever you say doll.”

Blake through her head back and laughed, “ok I’ll stop torturing you. I would really appreciate your help.”

She snapped out of her daze, “I was going to help, no matter what you said.”

Blake patted her shoulder as she walked past her, “of course you were going to.” She batted her eyelashes at her, “Cause you looooove me.”

Yang looked after her as she walked down the hall. “Hell yeah I do,” she said to herself.

——

Blake’s room was the last door on the left of the hallway. When she first moved in, she felt safer the farther away she was from the elevator. Originally fueled by paranoia, she grew fond of the room. She decked out the window and bed with black out curtains. Her vanity was sparse compared to her vanity downstairs, but it had the necessities haphazardly tossed on to it. She was going to need boxes to move all her stuff.

“Hey Ruby, would you mind grabbing some boxes from the storage closet?”

“Don’t mind at all, and I’ll bring some manpower too.”

Blake nodded, half pay attention, “you do that Ruby.”

Ruby ran out of the room so fast that she left rose petals behind her.

She turned her attention back to the rest of the room. She didn’t have many wall decorations, just a bunch of books. The walls were lined with bookshelves she knew were going to be a bit of a pain to move, but it was going to be worth it. Yang wouldn’t mind having some extra books in her room, she thought.

“Blake, I got what you needed!”

Ruby has gotten the boxes, indeed. However she decided to make Blake moving a whole party; she was flanked by Nora and Ren who were also carrying boxes.

“Thanks for the offer guys, but I can do it myself. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense,” Ren objected, “it’s no bother at all.” He walked into the room and started placing books into the boxes, “do you prefer books alphabetical by author or title?”

“What does it matter?” Nora placed the boxes down on Blake’s bed with a thunk, “ she’s going to be putting them into her and Yang’s room anyway.”

Blake smiled to herself, “I guess it’s no longer her room, it’s our room.” It didn’t occur to her initially that the room was now theirs, but it brought a warm feeling to her heart.

The bickering of voices brought her back to reality.

“Having the books already organized will make it easier to move them in.” He said calmly

“So? Should we organize everything else by color or by name alphabetically?” Nora shot back.

“My goodness you two, how did you ever get together? It’s a miracle you two get along let alone have romantic chemistry.”

“Welllllll,” Nora shrugged, looking affectionately at Ren, “we have a history together, considering we saved each other and all multiple times.”

“They say opposites attract and all that. I mean, look at you and Yang. You are very much an introvert, while Yang is.... Yang.” Ren explained. Blake shot him a look that caused him to backpedal, “And it’s not like Nora and I argue all the time, and when we argue it’s it’s just small things.”

“Yeah, like how ridiculous it is to organize books that are going to be unpacked anyway.” She stuck her tongue out at him while he huffed and went back to packing up books.

The room was flurry of activity. Ruby was running around the room and picking up stray objects and throwing them into random boxes. Nora was tad more organized, but not by much. She had clear boxes for certain things, but the way she was stacking them made it seem that packing was but a game of Tetris to her. Ren was meticulous in how he was organizing the books, which Blake appreciated.

It took Blake a little while to realize that a certain purple eyed firecracker was missing. She stopped packing her clothes and turned to Ruby, who was busy fiddling with the vanity, “Hey Ruby, do you know where Yang is?”

Ruby put down the perfume bottle she was examining, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Yang wanted me to tell you that she got pulled away because of something so she couldn’t help.”

Blake’s ears drooped, “Oh, alright.”

“But don’t worry,” Ruby added hastily, “she’ll make it up to you in some way, I’m sure she will.”

“If she doesn’t you have my promise that I’ll kick her butt,” Nora hit her fists together.

Blake giggled as Ren sighed. “Please do not beat up our boss, I actually like my job and would prefer to keep it.”

“It’s fine Ren,” Blake said, “you know she doesn’t mean it.”

“That’s up for debate!” Nora interjected.

“And Yang can take a joke. Contrary to the belief of the lower goons, she’s not a hard ass,” Blake continued, ignoring the bubbly red head.

The red head in question gave her a pouty look, Ruby laughed.

The rest of packing went without a hitch. Ren finished with the books in half an hour, all organized by author and genre. He was helping Ruby, well, more liking cleaning up after Ruby when a familiar face popped into the room.

“Ilia,” Blake got up from her box of blouses and ran to greet her. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a long time, thanks for asking. What’s going on in here?”

Nora appeared in a flash next to Blake before she could answer Ilia’s question and stuck her hand out, “Hi! My name’s Nora, you must be the new blood, right?”

Ilia took Nora’s hand cautiously, “Um, yeah. Nice to meet you-“

She felt her arm buzz as Nora aggressively shook it, “it’s nice to meet you too. I have, like, a million questions for you. How did you end up in the Dragons? What’s your favorite food? Mine’s pie, man can Velvet make a mean pie. Oh that’s right you don’t know her, you’ll meet her soon though.Where were you before then? Ren and I heard that you were part of the White Fang but we like to double check our info, it’s why team JNPR is the best recon team in the Dragons if I don’t say so myself. By the way the black haired boy over there is my boyfriend, Ren, don’t touch him he’s my man.”

“You don’t have to worry about Ilia stealing your man Nora,” she gently took Nora’s hand off of Ilia. With the amount of information that was just dumped onto her Ilia looked like her head was spinning, “and give her some space. She’s been through a lot and just woke up after having bullet wound surgery. Speaking of which,” she turned to Ilia, “how’s that wound healing?”

Ilia winced as she touched the bandages, “stings like a son of a bitch, but not fatal enough to prevent me from doing my job tonight.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Ruby asked, “what is your job tonight?”

“I’m working guard duty in the speakeasy according to Yang. Speaking of Yang, where is she? She gave off the impression that she doesn’t like to leave your side.”

“She had some work she had do to,” she quickly changed the subject ,”would you like to sit down?”

“I would love to, thanks.” She walked over to the bed and flopped down onto it, “man, these beds are the softest things I have slept on in a while”

“You mean you didn’t have decent beds where you were?” Ruby asked.

“The place I was in before... wasn’t exactly big on comfort.”

“Nora and I can relate,” Ren commented, “the factory we were working in when we were orphaned wasn’t exactly the most welcoming.”

Nora shook as if she had a chill, “brrr, don’t remind me. I’m not even sure those dorms counted as dorms, more like downgraded barracks if you asked me.”

He nodded, “when we came here, the beds felt like marshmallows.”

“Like you were going to sink to the floor,” Nora, Blake, Ren and Ilia said in unison. Ruby laughed at their perfect harmony, which had them start laughing too.

When the laughter died down, Blake looked out the window, thoughtful.

Ilia noticed her silence, “What’s on your mind Blake?”

“Nothing really,” she smiled, “it just seems Yang has a habit of picking of misfits for her gang.”

“But your her favorite!” Ruby crowed, “it’s why she’s asking you to move in with her.”

“What?” Ilia stood up and faced Blake, “you’re moving in with her?”

“I’ll still be in the same building, just a floor up is all.”

Ilia visibly relaxed, “ok. That’s good.” She paused, “how long have you and Yang been together?”

“We started being an ‘item’ about a year ago, though really I started getting romantic feelings for her after six months.”

“And you’re just staying in the same room now? How come?”

“You of all people should know why Ilia.”

She nodded, “I get that.” Then quietly, “he really did a number on you, huh?”

Blake shrugged, “you never saw what happened behind closed doors, and I hope you never do. That pathetic excuse of man made me lose what little trust I had in humanity. It took time to heal.”

“They do say time heals all wounds,” Ren commented.

“And talking about it also helps,” Nora shrugged, “we’re all here for you Blake, if you need anyone to talk to, any one of us in this room will be willing to listen.”

Ruby raised her hand, “I second that. Blake you’re one of my best friends, and you have so many people that care about you. We’re here for you if you need us.”

Ilia nodded in agreement.

Blake teared up a little at Nora’s and Ruby’s words, “thanks guys, you’re all the best.” She whipped away her tears, “now then, let’s finish packing.”

—————-

They finished packing within three hours. When it came to moving, Nora and Ruby were racing up and down the stairs to see who got the most boxes up to the room in the shortest amount of time.

Ilia insisted that she could carry boxes, trying to pick up the heaviest ones before Blake ripped it out of her hand. That didn’t stop her though, she ran to pick up another one, but her wound made itself known very plainly. Blake had to half push her to her room, saying “you need rest, you’re injured,” and, “you have work tonight, remember?” Ilia finally relented after Blake picked her up by the armpits and held her like a fussy cat. She wriggled out of Blake’s grip, “alright, alright, I’ll stop trying to help. But you better tell me if you need help, got it?”

“Loud and clear, now go.”

Ilia threw her hands up in surrender as she went into her room.

Blake let out a heavy sigh when Ren tapped her shoulder, “Ruby and Nora finished moving everything.”

She was amazed to say the least, “what, how?”

“When two forces of nature decide on a contest of both speed and strength, what do you think is going to happen?”  
  
“Touché, please tell me they didn’t break anything.”

He shrugged, “not to my knowledge, though some things may have been jostled around.”

“I’ll live with it. Now come on, we have to make sure they don’t kill each other in a debate of who won.”

“Roger that,” Ren trailed after her as they made their way up the stairs.

Nora and Ruby were both out of breath and arguing.

“I got way more boxes up here than you,” Ruby pointed out.

Nora put her hands on her hips, “yeaaaahhhh sure. Then how come I was way faster than you going up and down those stairs.”

“You weren’t.”

“We’re too.”

“Nu-huh.”

“Ya-huh.”

“What are you two, 1st graders?” A voice cut in. Yang was standing on the threshold of her room, “are you guys going to keep arguing or are you actually going to move stuff in?”

Ruby and Nora saluted her, “we’ll help right away boss.”

“But,” Ruby smiled, “shouldn’t Blake see the new and improved version?”

Blake furrowed her brow,“new and improved version of what?”

Yang smirked, “follow me.” She turned and disappeared into the room.

Blake, somewhat confused, stepped into the room after her, and what she saw took her breath away.

Typically Yang’s room was the example of bright colors; Usually she had ice blue floral wallpaper, yellow curtains, cream colored sheets. But this time it was different. The wall were light purple with the original floral pattern. The yellow curtains were replaced by black curtains similar to the ones in her room. The sheets were still cream colored, but black pillows and her purple comforter had joined the bed.

“What do you think so far doll? I remembered how you said that you have difficulty sleeping if there are any lights, so I got the manufacturer that made your original black out curtains and had him made these. If you look closely they have a special detail on them.”

Indeed they did have a small detail on them. “Bumblebees,” she breathed, “our curtains have bumblebees.”

Yang felt a surge of joy when Blake said our curtains, but she quickly tampered it down. This wasn’t about her, it was about Blake. “I have an extra surprise for you too.” She walked over to what seemed like a tapestry of a golden deer, but when she pushed it back it revealed a door knob.

Blake, curious, walked over and turned the knob. The door pushed inward to reveal a fair sized room, full of empty bookshelves.

“You said you were running out of room for your books, so I converted the adjacent room into a reading nook. Now you can have your own little private sanctuary even though we share a room. Sure, it’s a bit bare, but we can add a couple arm chairs, maybe a stack of pillows and blankets if you want to make a nest.” She looked over to gauge Blake’s reaction, but she didn’t have any. “Blake,” she asked quietly, “is this too much?”

“Too much,” she repeated. She turned to her, grinning ear to ear, her eyes sparkling with tears, “this is perfect. No one has ever done something this nice for me, ever. I -I don’t know what to say.” She brought Yang into a tight hug, “words could never express how happy I am right now. Thank you so much.”

“It honestly was a joy working on this. It’s why I couldn’t help you pack, I was working in the finishing touches. This is our room after all, you should feel as comfortable in it as I am.” She pressed a soft kiss on her lips, “I love you.”

Blake kissed her back, “I love you too.”  
———————  
Unpacking took longer than the actual packing. Blake and Ren worked on the library while Yang and the others were working the furniture. Nora and Yang had to carry up Blake’s vanity, but it was a small price to pay for Yang if it meant she could wake up every morning next to the girl of her dreams. Ruby was unpacking and putting away Blake’s clothes when her stomach growled.

Yang laughed, “guess that means we’re stopping for dinner. Blake and I can unpack the rest tomorrow.”

The others tried to protest, but Blake shunt them down. “We all have work tonight and all of you need to keep your strength up. We really appreciate all your help, but we can take it from here.” The group reluctantly agreed and Yang placed an order for room service.

“Hey, why don’t we invite the rest of the gang up here,” Yang suggested. They all agreed, and Yang called back down to make adjustments to the order.

Ruby was able to summon Weiss and Ilia to come up;Nora ran down to get Pyrrha and Jaune. And that’s how everyone ended squeezed around the dining room table eating different foods that shouldn’t have gone together, but did anyway because the situation required them to.

When the dinner first started, Blake noticed how tense Ilia was. Her back was stiffer than a wooden board and she barely spoke. As time went on however, she visibly relaxed and joined into the conversation. She went into a spirited talk with Weiss over the treatment of faunus in the mines.

“I’m so sorry you felt that you felt that you had to go to that awful group. In all honesty when I get control over the company from my dad, we will make sure that all miners are safe and well paid,” Weiss assured.

“And how can you be so sure?” Ilia raised and eyebrow, “you know the risks of mining, how can you guarantee the safety of the miners?”  
  
“For one thing, I won’t cut corners like my father does when it comes to safety. He has an awful habit of using cheap materials and machinery to get the job done. In his domain, productivity has gone down due to people not wanting to risk their lives. Which is quite reasonable.”

Ilia leaned her chin on her hand, “I would hope so. Not to mention the pay is terrible. The families of the miners barely have enough money to buy food.”

“That’s the thing, if they don’t have enough money to buy food, then how will they buy other products from the Schnee company? If the families have money left over from paying for necessities, chances of that money going back to company skyrocket because then they have extra money to spend on other products.”

Ilia snorted, “is money all you guys care about?”

Weiss lowered her shoulders, showing that she meant no harm. “Apologies, I’m so used in trying to convince people to due the right thing. However in my profession the only thing care about is money. To them, empathy wastes money. To get these greedy pigs to do anything right, you have to bribe them.” She made eye contact with Ilia, “I’m serious when I said I was sorry about what happened to you. No one deserves to lose their family like you did.”

She shrugged, “it happened a long time ago. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Weiss slammed her fist on the table, “but it does. I will do whatever it takes in my power so little girls and boys won’t have to suffer like you did.” She softened her voice, “you may have lost one family, but I hope you find familial bonds in the group like I did.”

“Thanks Weiss, that means a lot.” Ilia looked around the table, Blake had her head on Yang’s shoulder, looking Ilia with a kind smile. Ren nodded, agreeing with what Weiss was saying.

Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, “you can rely on us whenever you need to, alright?”

She nodded.

Yang smiled and raised her glass, “how about we propose a toast to our new member. We’ll have a proper welcome party this weekend, but for now, a toast to Ilia.”

Blake took her head off Yang’s shoulder and raised her glass, “to Ilia, one of the greatest people you can ask for as a friend.”

Weiss raised her glass, “to Ilia, I think I can confidently say on behalf of everyone here that we hope you find family here.”

“To Ilia!,” Ruby crowed.

“To Ilia!” The table crowed back.

Ilia smiled as everyone downed their drinks. She had never felt this welcomed anywhere in her life. Not among her classmates, not even the White Fang. For once she felt safe, like she had a home, “_and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate the feed back, please leave a comment!


	11. What would we do for love?

Opening time was approaching fast when they all finished their meal.

“Do we really have to open tonight,” Ruby whined, “I just wanna go to bed.”

“Sorry sis, but no dice,” Yang replied. “Remember everyone, tonight is not a night to screw around. We have important people coming through and we need to be vigilant of any dangers, capihce?”

“Way ahead of you boss. Rest assured, you can rely on team JNPR,” Pyrrha said.

“Thank you Pyrrha, that means a lot,” Blake said with a smile.

When everyone but Ruby left, Ilia turned to Blake. “Who’s the important person coming in?”

“The man who makes most of our weapons and prosthetics, and his daughter Penny. He’s a brilliant scientist who loves to help the less fortunate. His name is Pietro Polendina.”

“And why is he coming in?”

Yang crossed her arms, “we need to improve our defenses. We’ve had too many close calls. And thanks to Adam now riding our tails along with the Reaper in White, our men’s lives are at stake, and here we try our best to protect our men at any cost.” Her tone was colder than a blizzard. The way she spoke wasn’t that of a 18 year old girl, but a battle harden warrior who has seen too much for one life time.

Ruby put a hand on Ilia’s shoulder, “come with me, I’ll show you around and what you’ll be doing. I double as bartender and head guard, so you’ll report to me if you need anything.”

Ilia blinked in surprise, “alright.”

“You seemed startled,” she cocked her head like a bird, “I guess you don’t expect the head guard to be so young huh? Well don’t worry, I earned my position through hard work and not my sister. You can trust me.”

Ilia nodded, “I believe you, I’m just new to,” she gestured vaguely, “all of this.”

Ruby grabbed her hand, “well you don’t have to worry, cause you have people who can help. Now then, follow me!” She pulled Ilia out of the room, leaving Yang and Blake to themselves.

“I guess I better be going,” Blake said. She gave Yang’s hand a squeeze, “I’ll see you down there.”

Yang kissed her on the forehead, “I’ll see you down there Doll. Knock them dead tonight.”

Blake laughed and kissed her nose, “I will.”

—————

Normally Blake would take the stairs down to the speakeasy when she was already in the building, but she was in a time crunch. She used the service elevator to get to the basement level. The basement level was used by the cleaning staff to wash linens and silverware, however there was secret entrance to the speakeasy located within the walls. The cleaning staff already knew Blake, so they didn’t blink twice when she slipped in practically thin air. In reality, she used the revolving door hidden behind a stack of laundry. The set up and secret entrances were ingenious really. She had to give Yang’s mom, Raven, some credit. Sure, Raven was a manipulative leader who only saw people as pawns, but she did know how to cover her tracks.

The entrance spat out Blake into the hallway adjacent to the speakeasy, well the hallway she needed. This hallway was mainly used for business transactions and performer dressing rooms, like Blake’s. All their weapons, money, booze, etc was kept in a labyrinth underneath the bar accessed via trap doors. When she first went in there it felt like a maze, and she was the mouse. Nowadays she had an easier time finding her way around if she needed to, but she felt more comfortable if she was with someone else. Yang told her stories about how she and Ruby would play hide and seek in there during their childhood, until Taiyang banned them from the bar altogether until they were 15. Blake could see where Taiyang was coming from, two small girls and tons a weaponry and ammo, what could possibly go wrong?

Blake made her way to her dressing room. At her request when she first started she asked that the door could be locked from both sides, and that she would have the only key. Yang complied, and to this day Blake has the single copy of they key on her person at all times. That key helped Blake trust Yang. What Yang silently told Blake that day was that she trusted her to have her own space.

When she was in the White Fang, no one had privacy. Everyone shared everything, clothes, bathrooms. She asked Adam why he had his own bedroom but everyone else had to share a room. Let’s just say she had to cover up her bruises really well that day to prevent making their leader look bad.

She snapped back to reality when she heard the “Half hour” warning. Blake went over to her wardrobe and pulled out a favorite dress of hers. It was a dark purple, and the sparkle on it made it look like a nebula to her. One of the other reasons she liked it was the slit on the right side, it gave her easy access to her knife while still concealing it. The most people saw was her stockings and garter. She slipped her dress on along with some simple black stockings.

She decided to leave her cat ears out on display, opting to tie her signature bow onto the back of her head. She put teardrop earrings on her cat ears, and hoops on her human ears. When she first met Ruby, she asked her which ears she used more. Yang hit her upside the head for that. “My god Ruby, you can’t ask someone which ears they prefer.” The memory brought a ghost smile to her face.

While her outfit was elaborate, the makeup she was going to wear tonight was bit simple, but pretty nonetheless. She thought of Yang’s words when she was applying a light coating of purple eyeshadow,

“You look pretty no matter what honey. Bare face or coated, but if you really want my opinion the purple brings out the yellow in your eyes, it gives you a sort of femme fatale look.”

Blake smiled at thought when she heard the “five minute call.” She grabbed her light grey faux mink stole and headed backstage.

Backstage was always hectic before opening. Dancer girls running around trying to get their makeup done, musicians tuning their instruments, backstage hands setting up the tech. She walked over to a black man tuning his trumpet.

“Hey Flynt, how are you?”

Flynt tipped his hat, “Doing just fine Bearcat, how have you been? Heard your ex is being a real piece of work.”

Blake crossed her arms, “word gets around fast.”

He shrugged, “well, you know how the job is, got keep informed and all cause your life’s on the line.”

“But you’re a trumpet player.”

“And you’re a singer, but I know for a fact your packing that favorite knife of yours,” he winked at her.

She smirked, “touché.”

The stage manager called out “places, the joint opens in one minute. Act one to the stage.”

“Guess that’s my cue, break a leg Flynt.”

He tipped his hat, “same to you Bearcat.”

——————-

Outside the red curtains, the bar was packed. Clinks of glasses could be heard among the endless chatter. Yang was nursing a scotch when she heard a familiar voice, “greetings Yang Xao Long, long time no see.”

“Pietro,” Yang smiled and gestured to the seat next to her, “good to see you, how have you been? Where’s that daughter of yours?”

“Salutations!”

She whipped her head around to see a girl standing close behind her. “Good god Penny, you’re way to sneaky for your own good. You nearly gave me heart attack.”

Penny saluted her, “those were not my intentions, but it’s useful to know that I can sneak up on people.”

Yang wagged a finger at her, “sneaking up on people is a dangerous here.People are paranoid, they might pull a gun on you.”

She saluted again, “understood.”

“Penny,” Ruby called out.

“Ruby!”, she ran at breakneck speeds, tackle hugging Ruby to the ground. Yang and Pietro laughed as Penny helped up a disoriented Ruby. “Salutations best friend! How have you been!”

Pietro and Yang were clutching their stomachs, laughing hard. Ruby tried to be mad, but she couldn’t with Penny right in front of her. Penny’s cheeriness was infectious.

Ruby giggled, “I’ve been doing great Penny, how have you been? It’s been so long. You’re hair looks great, and so does your outfit.”

Penny grinned, “my father made it for me according to my specifications.” She twirled around in it, “I love it. I’m glad you approve too.”

Yang and Pietro looked on at the two girls with soft smiles. “You did a good job raising her,” Pietro commented.

“I could say the same to you.”

“Yes, but then again I’m an old man. I’ve had a lifetime’s worth of experience to base raising a child,” his eyes sparkled with wisdom, “but you on the other hand, have barely lived two decades. Yet you help raise your sister into a determined, spunky, loving person.” He patted her hand, “you did good.”

Yang face dusted red in embarrassment, “yeah yeah, anyway, you have something you wanted to talk about?”

Her eyes flicked to the black suitcase he had, but the lights flickered on and off signaling the show was about to start. “We can talk after the show. I hear your dear Blake is the opening act.”

Yang nodded, “yup.”

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

She smiled softly, starry eyed, “Neither can I.”

————————

Blake took her position center stage. Even though she’s done this plenty of times, her palms were still clammy. She felt someone tap her shoulder. She whipped around, fearing an attack. But it was Ilia, wearing a bashful smile.

“Ilia! How did you get back here?”

“I can blend in to the background, remember? And the snazzy suit makes it even easier.” She puffed out her chest, showing off her new duds.

Blake had to admit it was snazzy and good for hiding. It was a dark pinstripe suit with a dark grey button-up shirt. Even in the lighting, Ilia could disappear into the shadows without using her camouflage ability. The only spot of color was the yellow flower she was holding. Ilia saw Blake gazing at the flower and blushed.

“Oh, um, this is for you. I thought it would be a nice ‘break a leg gift’, though in hindsight it doesn’t really go with the dress.”

Blake took the flower from Ilia and smiled.She put it behind her human ear, “see? It does go with the outfit.” She hugged Ilia, “I love it. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Ilia stepped away, “I have to go, guard duty and all. And I’m pretty sure if the stage manger saw me back here they would murder me. They seemed scary.”

Blake nodded, “yeah, they are on duty. Off duty they’re a total mom.”

“I’ll see you after the show,” Ilia said as she disappeared into the shadows.

“I’ll see you then.”

—————————

Blake’s nerves calmed after the talk with Ilia. The flower felt soft under her touch; she thought yellow was an interesting choice of color. Maybe this was Ilia’s way of saying she was happy for her and Yang, but Blake didn’t have time to think about it, she had a show after all.

She turned back to the microphone in time to hear the announcer say, “ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to our star singer, Blake Belladona!”

The garnet-colored curtains pulled back to reveal the audience and blinding lights. Blake’s pupils narrowed to accommodate to the new lighting. She looked out over the crowd. The lights blotted out most of the faces, making them only dark figures. But one shadow was brighter than the others. Her golden-haired fireball of a partner, she stood out against the dark mass. Blake flicked her ear towards her, signaling that she could see her.

Yang thought Blake looked stunning in that dress. It looked like a god picked a section of the night sky out and weaved it into her outfit. Her eyes shone like two stars in the lighting, making her even more ethereal. Yang noticed how she kept her cat ears out today instead of covering them, they looked nice. She saw how Blake flicked her ear, and raised her glass. “Knock em dead babe,” she whispered softly.

Blake nodded, and took in a deep breath. Flynt nodded and started off the music. The band played up a jazzy tune, the tempo to snap of her fingers.

Tonight she chose what she thought was an appropriate song. Granted it was in Korean, but she knew all the words in the song. It was a song about how it’s necessary to leave behind toxic people. About how sometimes you have to say farewell.

“Re-e-e bye 미련 없이 손을 흔들어 re-bye

Re-e-e bye 그땐 그때 이땐 이때 re-bye”

Yang didn’t know what Blake was saying, but by God she thought it sounded beautiful as fuck. Blake told her how her parents gave her lessons in multiple languages, including French, German, and Italian. Her fluency in multiple languages gave her a wider array of songs she could perform. She guessed that her adoration could be clearly seen on her face since Pietro was smiling knowingly.

He leaned towards her, “she really is something, isn’t she?”

She sighed, starry eyed, “yeah, she’s amazing.”

“She sure is.”

Yang turned around, expecting Sun or one of her other employees. Instead a man with red hair dressed in black stood behind her. The suit made him blend into the shadows, except for the red roses embroidered into the collar. His sunglasses covered his eyes. “What douche wears sunglasses indoors?” 

The man gestures to the seat next to her, “if I please, may I take this seat next to your honorable self?”

Yang glared at the man. Something wasn’t sitting right with her about this guy. His smile looked strained, like he didn’t want to be there. If she could see his eyes, she would bet her gun that they were cold and dead, like the eyes of a shark.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere in this joint. Just tell me what you want.”

He smirked, “I just wanted to get to know you better. You’re very beautiful after all.”

This guy was starting to piss her off. Even Pietro was side eyeing him, pulling his suitcase closer to himself.

“Look, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Whatever you want is clearly not worth my time, and I’m trying to watch the show.” She turned back to Blake, who looked heavenly. The back up singer came in, Neptune, and started doing his little bit. Yang didn’t care about him though, Blake was swaying her hips to the beat and shaking her shoulders. Her black-haired beauty was really putting her soul into it tonight, drawing Yang in like a moth to a flame.

She was too focused on her to notice the man behind her drawing a gun out until she heard a clatter behind her.

“Watch out boss,” Ilia shouted, tackling the man to the ground. She tried to keep him pinned down, but he elbowed her in an area close to the bullet wound. Ilia groaned and rolled over, clutching her side.

The man got up, pushing Ilia over to the side with his foot. He shook his head, “pitiful. I thought you were better than this Ilia.”

“Oi,” Yang shot up out of her seat, “who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and beating up one of my men?”

“One of your men?” He threw his head back and laughed, “this sorry excuse for a traitor used to be one of my goons, till you showed up.” He shook his head, “no. It wasn’t your fault.” He turned to the stage, pointing his gun towards Blake, “it’s hers.”

————-

Blake was standing up in stage, stunned. One minute, she was singing with Neptune, having a grand old time. Then the next minute, she heard Ilia shout and a crash. When she looked up, she nearly collapsed at what she saw.

The man she feared most staring down the woman she loved most on the world.

Everyone else in the bar was tense, ready to spring. The guards had their guns out with the safety off, but were unsure about what to do. The threat in question was close to their boss after all. In case of a shoot out, the boss had to be protected. That was just rule number one of being a goon. Some people, like Nora, were crouched behind tables, gun in hand in case they had to fire.

However, Blake knew this couldn’t be solved with a shootout. This was between her and the monster across the room.

“Stop it,” she demanded. Blake jumped off the stage and started walking towards him, “step away from him.”

“Blake,” the man drawled, “it’s so good to see you again.” He held out his arms, as of expecting a hug.

She walked right past him, not giving him a second look. She went up to Yang and held her hands, “stay behind me.”

Yang opened her mouth to protest, but Blake shushed her, “you have your battles, I have mine. Let me be the one protecting you for once.” She kissed her forehead, “keep everyone safe, ok?”

Yang nodded in understanding.

“What is the meaning of this?” The man stomped his foot, acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum, “come here Blake, you belong to me.” He pointed his gun at her left side, “or do you need another reminder?”

Blake stood straight up, “I don’t belong to you Adam, I don’t belong to anyone.”

He laughed, “sure you don’t sweetie, now come along and I’ll think about keeping that,” he gestured to Yang, “plaything alive. I’ll even throw in that traitor if you really want me to.”

Blake gritted her teeth, “No.”

“No, what do you mean, no?” He demanded.

“This is where I belong. Not with you, not with the White Fang, but here. I have people who love me here, truly care for me.” She steeled her gaze at him, “I won’t go back.”

“Oh, so just because they pamper you and let you sing your stupid little songs you’re choosing them over me?” He scoffed, “real mature.”

Yang stood up besides her, “yeah, she is being mature. Much more than you’re being right now.”

Adam’s gun clicked, “don’t test me. I don’t have the time to play games. Now come one Blake, we have to go.”

“I told you, I’m not going back with you. Now leave us alone, and never come back.”

Adam was silent, as if he was actually considering leaving, but then he snapped his fingers. Four goons materialized behind him, “if you really think I was going to go quietly, you’re wrong. We’re leaving with you, no matter what.” He reached out towards her, “so do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

He grabbed her wrist, attempting to pull her along. What he was met with was a good stab in arm. He cried out, recoiling away from Blake. “You,” he snarled, “you bitch.” He turned to his men, “kill them all.”

His goons nodded and headed into action. Gun fire broke out in the small space. The air was full of gun powder and screams. Yang saw Penny tackle Ruby to the ground, shielding her. Yang herself tugged Pietro and Blake under a table.

Blake was grasping onto Yang’s suit, “I’m so sorry Yang, it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Yang tucked some stray hair behind Blake’s ear and kissed her forehead, “this isn’t your fault, none of this is your fault.” She wanted to stick her head out to see what was going on, but she knew it could risk a bullet to the head. “I just wish I could fight, my gun got knocked around in the original scuffle.”

“I might have the answer to that problem,” Pietro offered. He pulled out his suitcase and unlocked it. He pulled out a box, “I made these to your specifications. I know they weren’t supposed to be shown to you yet since they’re just prototypes, but I thought I could give you a preview. Didn’t know they were going to come in handy.”

He opened the box the reveal a set of gauntlets. They were painted yellow and black with Yang’s gang emblem, a black flame. The canisters were already fully loaded with special bullets.

He chuckled as Yang’s eyes lit up, “go ahead and try them on. They’re not just for show after all.”

Yang slipped on the gauntlets carefully so not to set them off. The bullets were purely force repelled after all, not shot using a trigger like a gun.

“What do you think?”

She grinned dementedly, “they’re perfect.” She kissed her girlfriend quickly, “wait here. I’ll be right back.” Before Blake could talk her out of it, she hopped out from under the table.

Blake turned to Pietro, “do you have anything I can use?”

He smiled, “I thought you’d never ask.”

—————————-

The speakeasy was absolute chaos. Members of the White Fang seemed to pop out of nowhere. But Yang’s men were holding up just fine. Nora had discarded her gun in favor of punching people in the face, which was quit effective all things considered. Ren was being her backup while Coco was demolishing the place. The damages she caused were coming out of her paycheck, that’s for sure.

Yang swung her head around looking for her target. She found him shooting at some random bystanders who weren’t even armed. “Hey goat boy,” she shouted, “why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

His head turned around as he got blown back by her bullets. She found it highly amusing as he tried to scramble from the rubble.

She stomped forward, throwing all caution to the wind. “Now that I have you attention, let’s talk.” Her voice boomed throughout the bar, halting all action. “You have two choices, you ether get your ass handed to you by the us, or you leave peacefully. Ether way, you’re out of here.” She got into fighting position, “so do you want to so this the easy way, or the hard way?” She said, mocking him.

He grinned, “I’ll take neither.”

Yang cocked an eyebrow, confused, until she heard a gunshot behind her. A man was laying injured at her feet, a bullet hole on his shoulder. She looked up to see Blake holding a brand new weapon, smiling, “you really thought I was going to stand by and watch? Not a chance,” she emphasized the next word to piss off Adam, “babe.”

“Awww, kitten. You shot someone for me, how sweet.”

Blake smiled at Yang until she heard Adam yell, “enough.” The next few seconds happened in slow motion. Before she could warn her, he shot Yang in the arm and rushed over, putting the barrel of the gun to her head.

He was breathing heavily, “enough of this. Blake is coming with me and that’s the end of it. I was trying to be nice, trying to give you a chance. But no, you just had to make me angry, didn’t you.” Two of his men flanked behind him, so no one else could get near him. He cocked his gun, “what does she even see in you?”

Yang blinked as gun shots rang out. She wasn’t dead, but the two men behind Adam were. He turned around to see the barrel of a gun, smoke still coming out from its previous two kills.

Ruby started him hard in the face, silver eyes cutting through his soul, “don’t even try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Blake sings is by a brother and sister group called Akmu. They’re really good. In fact their song Re-bye is what inspired this whole story. 
> 
> I hope you like this chapter guys, please leave a comment. I appreciate the feedback


	12. Healing (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang deals with Adam and the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry about not posting chapters on time. School been hectic and a pain.
> 
> On the other hand, the latest episodes of RWBY? Absolutely spectacular, 10/10 Penny is a sweetheart and Qrow is a good uncle. Ironwood is awkward and the bees are thriving.
> 
> Also, the comics are great. Go read them.

Ruby’s silver eyes seemed to glow with fury in the lighting. Her mouth twisted into a grimace as she stared down Adam. Her eyes bore into him, her finger tightening on the trigger.

Even Blake felt a chill down her spine at Ruby’s sudden personality shift. Ruby was always a light and bubbly, always ready with a smile. This new, terrifying, side of Ruby was creeping her out. Adam looked ready to piss himself.

“Now that I have your attention, I think some things need explaining, if that’s alright with you?” She shoved the barrel closer to his face, “oh wait, that’s right, I don’t care.”

Adam visibly gulped. Blake had never seen him so nervous before, and she was enjoying the hell out of it.

“This speakeasy, ran by the woman who you attacked, is neutral territory. Do you know what neutral territory means?”

Ruby smirked when his jaw dropped, “I’m taking that as a ‘maybe’. Considering your actions you clearly need a refresher. But first let her go,” she motioned to Yang, “or you may not live long enough to hear the refresher.”

Yang was surprised when he dropped his gun, never taking his eyes off of Ruby. He was clearly terrified of the girl, bending to her every whim. She wanted to stay and watch up close, she could smell Adam’s fear. But Ruby took a risk with pointing a gun at him, so she got up as gracefully as she could with a wounded arm and rushed over to Blake.

Blake lowered her gun so she could embrace Yang. She sighed in relief when Yang partially collapsed into her arms. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Yang patted her arm, “you’re fine doll.”

“But your arm.”

She grinned, “‘‘‘tis but a flesh wound.”

Blake rolled her eyes and snorted, “how long have you been waiting to use that one?”

“Honestly, it came to me just now.”

She sighed and lowered her voice, “what are we going to do about him?”

Yang turned to watch Ruby, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “how about we just sit back and watch the show.”

——————-

Ruby watched as her sister scramble away from Adam and run to Blake. She wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but this wasn’t a time to let her guard down. She turned her gaze back to Adam, “now then, as I was saying, this establishment is neutral territory among the gangs of Remnant.” She paused, gauging his reaction. His jaw tensed, the only noticeable sign that he was nervous. He was trying to give off the impression that he was still in control, that he wasn’t afraid.

But she knew that his facade was total horse shit.

One of things that made Ruby so deadly was her ability to read people. She could tell when someone was lying or not: wether their ulterior motives would get in the way of the gang’s goal.

Or if she was going to be forced to kill them.

Adam was clearly afraid, sweat was beading at his brow; she could almost hear his heart beating against his chest like a trapped bird. It was pathetic.

“As per the universal rule, people do not battle in neutral territory. Here, bosses can sort out problems without needed to draw blood. However,” she gripped her gun, “if another gang boss decides to go against this code, then the attacked boss has every right to attack to the offender without consequences. Now then, this wouldn’t mean anything in most circumstances. Most fights can usually be solved between to the two leaders.”

“In this case however,” she gestured towards Yang and Blake with her free hand, “you didn’t target the leader themself, you targeted her loves ones. And that,” she glowered at him, “is both a declaration of war and signing your death warrant.”

Adam spat at her, “so? What does any of this matter? I was taking back what was rightfully mine.”

Ruby threw back her head and laughed, “you really are as thick headed as you look. Declaring war in neutral territory means that no boss is allowed to help the offender.”

“And?”

“And?” She crowed, “it means that the other gangs ether help us or stay out of the conflict altogether. Helping you would be their downfall,” her eyes shined, “and if I may add, Yang here, you know, the woman you wrongfully attacked, has quite a few friends.” She bent down to eye level with him, “ and from what I’ve heard the White Fang has pissed off quite a few of our more powerful allies.” She whispered in his ear, “your actions have just destroyed everything you built up. Personally, I can’t wait to see it all come crumbling down around you.”

He let out an angry roar and tackled her to the ground. Yang cried out, struggling to get to her sister, but Blake and Nora held her back.

“Yang, you’re injured, you can’t fight him,” Blake pleaded.

“Like hell I won’t, that’s my baby sister,” she snarled. “Stay away from her,” she called out,”or you’ll regret it.”

Adam turned around, having pinned Ruby to the ground. She was struggling against him, trying to kick him off of her. He smirked, “or what?” He bent down, making sure Blake could see him lick the shell of Ruby’s ear.

“Or this you sorry disgrace for a Faunus,” an icy voice replied, kicking him directly in the side of the head. He yelped, rolling off a Ruby, clutching his head.

Ruby was heaving when she looked up, “Weiss, thanks for the save,” she replied weakly.

The white haired girl huffed in annoyance, “how many time have I told you not to antagonize the enemy.” She offered her hand, helping Ruby up.

“Sorry Weiss, I-“ she was cut off by Weiss dragging her into a tight hug. Ruby tensed up, taken aback by the hug. Weiss wasn’t usually the hugging type, but she felt herself melt into the hug, returning it.

“Don’t do that again alright?” Weiss whispered softly, to the point that Ruby almost couldn’t hear her, “I care about you too much to loose you, got it?”

“I got it,” she giggled, “toots.”

Weiss pushed her back, “and the moment is ruined.”

“Awwww,” Ruby pouted, “I’m sorrrry, forgive me.”

Weiss smirked, “Maybe, but first,” she turned to Adam, who was curled on floor, “we need to take out the trash.” She walked over to him, her sword drawn. “I’m giving you one chance to, surrender,recall your men and get out of here, or I will graciously gift you with a second smile.”

Adam studied her trough the sunglasses for a moment, assessing if it was worth it to keep fighting. Weiss looked satisfied when he lifted his hands in defeat. He whistled, and the remaining White Fang members scurried out of the bar.

He got up, grimacing. “This is not the end, we will come back stronger, and then,” he turned to Blake, “I’m coming for you.”

A knife came whirling at him, embedding itself in the wood next to his head.

“Get out of here Adam, or next time I won’t miss,” Blake threatened.

He ran out of the bar, not giving another glance back.

—————-

Blake’s ears were pinned to her head until she could no longer hear his footsteps, but it felt like he was still there. She could still smell him and the awful cologne he would wear. She still felt his presence on her skin. When he had pinned down Ruby, all she could see was herself in Ruby’s position, all those times he’s done that to her. She could feel a weight pressing down on her chest, like she was being stoned. Blake felt like she was the verge of tears, but she had to stay strong. Not just images sake, but for the girl next to her.

She stood up, propping up Yang. “The speakeasy is closed for the rest of the evening and tomorrow for repairs. Anyone not part of the Dragons must leave, we apologize for the inconvenience.”

Some people grumbled, but under Blake’s scrutinizing gaze the complaints were silenced. The patrons shuffled out in groups.

When everyone left, she turned her attention to the other Dragons. “Someone call in the sawbones, anyone who isn’t injured will clean up the bar and tend to the wounded as best they can.”

“Why should we listen to you?”

Blake snapped her head in the direction of the voice. The offending voice came from Cardin, the leader of CRDL. He was lounging against the wall, glaring at her. He looked like he didn’t sustain any injuries from the battle at all, not even a bullet nick. “Answer me, why should we listen to you? Is it because your Yang’s favorite fuck toy or something? Cause I’m not going to listen to some dirty Faunus bit-“

Yang raised her arm and fired a shot directly at his head.

He dodged the attack last minute, falling to the floor, but the wood paneling was smoldering from the shot. The hole was glowing from the left over embers. He didn’t have time to recover when Yang fired another shot right next to his leg. He curled himself in, his head in his arms.

“You have anything to say for yourself?” She deadpanned.

One of Cardin’s lackeys piped up, “sorry boss. He was just concerned that’s all.”

“About what?”

“Well,” his eyes trailed to Blake, “wasn’t she the whole reason the White fang attacked? I mean, she was one of them after all.”

Her eyes flashed red, “and?”

The lackey stood up straighter, “what we’re trying to say is why should we trust her? She’s Faunus after all. For all we know she’s a spy for them or...”, he trailed off.

The lackey visibly shivered at Yang’s glare. Her eyes were glowing red, her hair a halo of fire around her. She raised her fist again, aiming at him, “do you want to continue that sediment?”

He threw his hands in surrender, “no, no boss.”

“Do you not trust my judgement?” She stepped towards him, “do you think I’m so stupid that all it would take is pretty face to fool me?”

She stomped over to him, arm still raised. She was close enough to him that he was starring down the barrel of her gauntlet.The boy was quivering, “no boss, I didn’t mean anything like that.”

She stood there for a moment, Blake was worried that she would actually blow a hole into the boy’s face. She was about to step in when Yang lowered her arm. “That’s what I thought.” She turned around as the boy sighed. Then like lighting she turned back around and slapped him hard.

She grabbed his face, “listen here boy, I’m fairly reasonable when it comes to criticism. However, if I ever hear you or anyone on your team attack or doubt anyone on my personal team because of their race, I will make you sorry.” She turned back to the rest of the gang, “that goes for the rest of you, too. Though I know that the rest of you have actual brain cells, am I wrong?”

The room was silent except for some foot shuffling and coughing.

“Now that we have that sorted out,” Yang said curtly, “everyone better listen to Blake. Ruby may be my right hand, but Blake here knows what she’s talking about. Got it.”

Everyone nodded and set off to work, not sparing a glance to the cowering team CDNL.

Yang let out a sigh of relief and sank to the chair when she got back to her previous table. “Gods almighty,” she mumbled.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m so sorry.”

“About CRDL,” she waved her hand dismissively, “oh please, I’ve been meaning to give them a piece of my mind for awhile. They had it coming.”

“No, well kind of,” Blake ducked her head, “it’s about everything.”

Yang furrowed her brow, “everything?”

She sighed, “about the White Fang, about the multiple attacks on your life.” She whispered, “about Adam.”

“Aww, sweetheart,” she cupped Blake’s face in her hands. “Adam isn’t your fault, none of this is you fault. The only person who is at fault is the guy who shot my arm...”

Blake gasped, “your arm!” She started fretting over her, “how are you feeling? Does it hurt a lot? Can someone get a medic?”

She chuckled and pulled her in for a one armed hug, “I’m fine, he only shot it. It’s not like I lost the whole thing.”

“That’s a relief. The prospect of getting a prosthetic arm for you does not sound appealing.”

“Are you saying there’s something wrong with prosthetics?” A clipped voice chimed in.

The pair snapped up to see a familiar face. “Ironwood,” Yang exclaimed, “when did you get here?”

“I happened to be in the area when I got Dr.Polendina message, thought I’d come by to see if you needed any help.” He looked around the room at the everyone scurrying to clean up, “although, it seems like you have everything under control.”

“Thanks for your concern,” Yang said, “but speaking of Polendina, where is he?” Last time she saw him, he was under the table, protecting his weapons. But looking around, neither he nor his daughter were nowhere to be found.

Weiss walked over with Ruby draped over her shoulders, “during Ruby’s little distraction,” she threw a scathing look at her, Ruby giggled, “I had my men escort him and his daughter out of the bar. No worries, they’re safe and secure.”

“Phew, that’s good,” Blake said.

Yang nodded, “Agreed, and I trust Weiss to keep them safe.”

Weiss smiled at her. Ruby, on the other hand, stuck out her lower lip, “I wanted to say goodbye to Penny.”

Weiss leaned over and pecked a kiss on her cheek, “sorry toots.”

Ruby’s face went redder than any rose ever seen, and everyone burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, I appreciate the feedback.
> 
> Btw, Sawbone is slang for Doctor.


	13. Healing (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Yang and Blake get the help they need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though this chapter maybe short, I wanted to explore Blake’s past a little bit.
> 
> This has reference to her past abuse. It’s not vivid, only implied. If you’re really sensitive to that stuff, skip the paragraph from “yet your past is effecting your present...” to “she couldn’t utter a single syllable.” It’s light, but I don’t want to upset anyone.

After the laughter subsided, Weiss escorted Ruby, much to her protest, to one of the doctors that arrived.

“Weiss, I’m fine. I don’t need to see a medic,” she complained.

“I’m not going to play this game tonight. You’re seeing a doctor and that’s final.”

Ruby dropped her head in defeat and let Weiss drag her along. Blake giggled at the couple’s banter. Speaking of seeing a medic, she shot a look at Yang.

Yang caught Blake’s look and started shaking her head, “no, no I’m ok. I don’t need to see a doctor.”

“You got shot in the arm!”

She cocked an eyebrow, “so?”

Blake rolled her eyes, “you’re just as stubborn as your sister.” She got up, “I’m going to find a doctor to treat you. If that doesn’t get treated soon you could lose the whole damned thing.”

“Fiiiiine, but I’m telling you I’m ok.” Ironwood reached over and patted her right arm. She let out a yelp and swatted him away, “what the hell was that for?”

“To see if you were truly ok,” he said in a matter of fact fashion.

Yang snorted, “uh huh.” She watched Blake run into the throng of people. Doctors were running around along with goons cleaning up the bar. Her men were pretty damn efficient. Team CFVY was cleaning up broken debris while JNPR was salvaging any chairs and tables that were usable. The rest were helping where they could with cleaning and tending to the wounded. She smiled fondly, and Ironwood picked up on it.

“You seem quite happy.”

She shrugged with her good shoulder, “they’re following orders, as they should be.”

“Well,they’re following their leader’s orders. Not their boss’s.”

Yang cocked an eyebrow, confused, “aren’t they the same thing?”

“There’s a difference between a boss and a leader.”

“Oh?” She turned to him, “and what is it?”

“A boss is someone who gives orders and makes others do the work.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now? Sitting around and giving orders?”

He shook his head, “no. What you’re doing is leading. You inspire others and gain their trust, and this trust is what inclines them to do things for you.”

“Well, money helps.”

“Money only goes so far,” he said sternly. “What you have done has resulted in them putting your faith in you. I’ve seen many bosses fall because their men lost faith them and deserted. The gangs who last long have leaders at their heads,” he smiled at her, “and the Golden dragons will last for decades to come.”

Yang chuckled, “I can only hope. I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she leaned in, “I care about my men, deeply. I may have this hard ass bitch facade, but I care about each and every one of them.”

“If that’s your only secret then you’re bad at hiding it. It’s clear you care about your people in the way you treat them,” he flicked to CRDL, “even if sometimes you have to send a message once in a while.”

“Speaking of poorly kept secrets,” she waggled her eyebrows, “what’s the real reason you were in the area.”

He stiffened, “I told you, I had business in the area.”

“Hey! Back off,” a familiar voice cut through, “I’m trying to see my niece, she got shot.” Qrow was struggling against one of the goons who was trying to push him out.

Yang’s jaw dropped and she smiled, “I didn’t realize Qrow’s pet name was business,” she said cheekily.

Ironwood’s face dusted red when she waved the goon away. “He’s my uncle, let him pass.” The goon nodded and stepped back. She grinned at him, “hey Uncle Qrow, you’re looking a bit more.... disheveled than usual.”

Qrow crosses his arms. His hair looked like he just rolled out of bed. His clothes were messy as if he threw them on five minutes ago, and it didn’t look like he was dressed for the weather. Leather pants, a shot sleeved undershirt, and a... scarf. He deflected her response, “Don’t I always look like this?”

“You don’t normally wear a scarf,” she commented.

“It’s cold.”

“And wear a short sleeve shirt at the same time,” she concluded. She turned to Ironwood, “looks like you did a real number on him, hm?” Ironwood’s face was completely red, and Qrow’s grinned.

“What? Jealous?”

She rolled her eyes, “I have Blake. No offense to your beau, but she’s way hotter.” She smirked, “in more ways than one.”

He leaned forward and placed his hands on the table, “wanna bet?” He reached to take off the scarf.

Ironwood stopped his hand, his face redder than before, “Uh, isn’t Blake supposed to be back with a medic by now?”

Speaking of her cat eyed lover, the girl was running back with Ozpin and Salem tow. “Oh good you’re still here.”

“Where else would I be?”

Blake threw her hands up, “I don’t know. You’re like your sister. You have a tendency to not stay in one place.”

She winked, “where’s the fun in staying in one place?”

Blake sighed, “just don’t fight with Salem, please.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it doll face.” She got up and went over to Salem and Ozpin, “I surrender myself to your witchcraft.”

Salem rolled her eyes. “Come along now, we need to get you patched up.” She put her hand on Yang’s shoulder gently and guided her through the throng of people.

————————-

Blake sighed with relief when Yang walked away with Salem and Ozpin. “Thank you for watching her,” she said to Qrow and Ironwood.

“It’s no problem,” Qrow adjusted the scarf, “though she’d embarrassed poor Jimmy here. His face is redder than my cape.” He smiled at Ironwood affectionately. “Sorry about Yang, she’s like me...”

“No filter,” James finished.

He finger gunned, “bingo.”

She smirked, “well, when you show up out of nowhere with another person looking how you’re looking, it can raise some brows.”

“And those ‘brows’ can mind their own dammed business,” Qrow shot back.

“Kind of hard when it looks like your hair got yanked around during a good fuc-“

Ironwood clapped his hands together, “all right. I must excuse myself. If you need anything do not hesitate to ask.” He nodded at Qrow and Blake,and swiftly turned around and high tailed out of the bar.

Blake was laughing and turned to Qrow, “sorry. Thought he could deal with a bit of teasing.”

Qrow grumbled, “you’re spending to much time around Yang.”

She chuckled, “maybe so.”

They sat their in silence for a moment before he said, “guess that makes you my third niece.”

Blake felt her heart leap into her throat, “what?”

“You heard me. Anyone who spends that much time around my nieces and cares for them as much as you do is automatically part of the family.” He shook his head smiling, “and considering how much she cares about you, it’s only a matter of time before she pops the question.”

Blake blushed and he laughed. “Who can’t stand a little teasing now,” he mocked.

“Yeah, yeah.” She stood up, “I need to check on Yang. I’ll see you around,” she added quietly, “Uncle Qrow.”

He smiled, “go ahead. See you later kiddo.”

———————-

Yang was snoring when she found her. Guess the operation really tired her out. There were two guards standing at ether side of the door. They let her past with no problem, she was the boss’s girlfriend after all. She pulled up a chair on Yang’s injured side.

The right side of her shirt was cut off so the doctors could get to the bullet. The whole right arm was wrapped in bandages up to the shoulder.

Blake sighed and put her head in her hands, “this is all my fault. I’m sorry Yang.”

“How is this your fault?”

Blake gasped and looked up. Yang was still asleep, snoring soundly. “Apologies I didn’t mean to startle you.” Salem was in the doorway holding a box of medicine. “I came here to check in on Yang, but she seems fine.” She walked into the room and placed the box down, “nevertheless, she needs constant watch. Bullet wounds don’t heal instantly you know.”

“Oh, alright.” She added lamely,“Thank you for all your help.”

“It’s no problem at all dear.” Salem pulled up a chair next to Blake, “now then, you never answered my question.”

“What?”

“How are Yang’s injuries your fault?” Salem cocked her head.

Blake felt a chill go down her spine. Salem’s eyes were darker than coal with only a tinge of red in her irises. When they first met, she felt like Salem was staring into her soul, trying to seize all her secrets. But now, her eyes only showed concern and kindness.

“Blake dear,” she sounded concerned, “are you alright?”

She nodded, “I’m fine.” Her eyes flicked to Yang, “but she isn’t.” The words streamed out before she could stop herself, “it’s all my fault. If it wasn’t for me she wouldn’t have gotten shot. If it wasn’t for me Adam wouldn’t have targeted her.” She started to dry sob, “if I never came into her life then she would never had to suffer for my sake.”

“Aww,” Salem brought her into a hug, “my dear.” She rubbed Blake’s back, “this may be hard to hear, but the actions of one are not the fault of another. Yes, you left him. Yes, he targeted your loved ones to get back at you.”

Blake’s ears pinned against her head, “How is that not my fault? He was trying to get back at

me.”

“Shush dear, let me finish.” Blake opened her mouth, but then closed it. Salem petted her hair, “his actions may have been inspired by yours. However, how he reacted to your departure is solely his own.” She let go of her, “now then, did you shoot Yang?”

Blake’s mouth dropped in surprise, “no!”

“Did you purposely summon Adam to harm Yang?”

“No!”

“Did you want to harm Yang in any way?”

Blake stood up, furious, “She’s dear to me. She’s the sun to my moon, the petals to my sunflower. How dare you accuse me of wanting to hurt the one I love!”

Salem smiled, not at all taken a back from her response. “So let me ask you again, how is Yang getting hurt your fault, if you love her so much?”

Blake paused, her mouth hanging open a tad. She took a step back, letting Salem’s words sink in. “But...”

“But what?” Salem stood up to her full hight. Her voice was stern, “Blake, I have been a doctor for many years. I have seen many things in my career, and there’s one thing I know for certain.” She strode over to her. Blake felt her back against the wall, but Salem stopped a couple feet in front of her.

She said softly, “people can not hide their trauma. It eventually destroys them, rots them from the inside out. It will effect the people around them,” she gestured to Yang, “the people they love.”

Blake’s eyes started to tear up, “I just want to keep her safe. She doesn’t need to know what’s happened to me. She already has too much on her plate, my past doesn’t matter.”

“Yet your past is what is effecting your present.” She shook her head, “as much as we want to, we cannot outrun our past. All we can do is learn from it.” Salem stepped toward Blake slowly, so not to crowd her. “When I asked you if you were fine, I knew you were lying when you said you were. Before Yang fell asleep, she told me and Ozpin how horrified you were when he pinned Ruby.”

“I was afraid for her,” Bake defended.

She nodded, “while that may be true, she also told him how you were shaking. According to her, the look in your eyes could be described as haunted, like you were looking into the past, your past.”

Blake seized up. Every muscle in her body was telling her to run, to keep her secrets from Salem’s prying eyes. She swore to herself that she would take her past to her grave when she started her new life, but she felt her walls breaking down.

She couldn’t utter a syllable before Salem raised her hand, “what has happened in your past is up to you to divulged.” She looked at Yang’s sleeping form, “but she deserves an explanation, at the very least.” She looked back to Blake, her eyes soft, “and if you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m here for you too.”

Blake nodded. Whipping away her tears, she smiled at Salem, “thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Please leave a comment.


	14. Time to get down to business...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is formed

Blake was still shaken by her conversation with Salem. The woman in question had left Yang in Blake’s care after another two hours of watching over her sleeping body. She said that she would be back in two days to check on her.

She smiled at Blake and took her hands, “I trust you can take care of her.”

Blake nodded, “she’s in the best of hands.”

Salem gripped her hands softly, “I know.”

——

The Faunus was sitting at a table nursing a Bloody Mary courtesy of Sun. She had gathered team JNPR and the rest of RWBY. When Yang had reconstructed the Dragons after her mother’s disappearance, she had decided it was best that the goon were broken down into teams of four: easier to manage. RWBY was her personal team, while JNPR was close second. JNPR could be trusted with much more delicate missions, like this one.

Ruby had her head on Weiss’s shoulder as if she was about to fall asleep, though her eyes were alert. Phyrria was sitting across from Blake with her leader, Jaune, at her left side. She was his right hand after all. And Nora and Ren were standing. Nora was still tense from the fight by the fact she was bouncing on the balls of her foot.

Blake sighed and clicked her nails against the glass. The table was quiet, but Weiss was the one to break the silence.

“So,” she looked at Blake, “now what?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because, according to Yang, we should listen to you when it comes to orders.” She flipped her white ponytail over the side of the shoulder, “besides, you’re the only one qualified to deal with this maniac. You know him best after all.”

Blake shoulders sank, “I guess I do.”

“Hey,” Ren spoke up, “don’t blame yourself-“

Blake slammed her fist in frustration, “I can’t help it alright! This vile man is hurting all of you. If it wasn’t for me, Yang...”

“Would still have gotten hurt,” Phyrria said. She reached across and clasped Blake’s hand in her own, “I know what it’s like to take responsibility for someone else’s pain, and I can tell you it never gets easier. But with Yang, she’s been gun ho as long as I’ve known her.” She smiled softly,”actually, ever since you’ve come along she’s been a bit calmer.”

Blake looked at everyone’s reactions, Weiss and Ruby were nodding to what Phyrria has said: Nora had stopped bouncing and was holding Ren’s hand, and Jaune placed his hand on Phyrria’s back.

She turned to acknowledge Jaune before continuing, “but I digress. You seemed to fail to take into account that she’s a gang leader. She would have gotten injured at one point or another. Heck, she’s been injured plenty of times before. Remember when she got hit in the head with the butt of someone’s gun?”

Blake chuckled, “she was so mad when Glinda told her she had a concussion and had to stay in bed for several days.”

“Yang’s never been one to sit back and watch,” Ruby added with a chuckle.

“See? The risk of injury, it’s all part of the job description.” Phyrria patted her hand, “you did all you could. But Yang’s position, while with benefits, has major drawbacks and risks. It was going to happen eventually.”

Ruby placed a hand on Blake’s shoulder, “we’re here for you.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Ren flashed her a thumbs up.

Blake smiled, “thank you guys, that means a lot.”

“What means a lot?”

Everyone’s head whipped around to see....

“YANG!” Blake exclaimed. She leaped out of her chair and tackled hug her. “My dear, my sunshine, my fire,” she was kissing the side of her head with every name. Yang laughed and tried to push her off, but Blake wouldn’t let go. She cupped her face gently, “you’re supposed to be in bed, what are you doing up?”

Yang shrugged, “I woke up and no one was around except for some guards.” She hit her fists together and grinned, “they tried to keep me down, but I showed them no one keeps Yang Xao Long down!”

Ruby shook her head, “don’t tell me you beat up two of our guys.”

She put her hand on her hip, “what do you think?”

“She just ordered us out of the way and we moved,” a man said, two guards came out from the door she came from.

Yang pouted, “way to ruin my image guys.”

“Sorry boss,” the guards said in unison.

She waved them away, “I’m just yanking your chains. You’s fine. Go take five.”

One of the guards raised a brow in surprise, “are you sure boss?”

She nodded, “I still have one working arm,” she swung her left arm in a hook,“be fine.”

The other guard nodded, “and you have your own protector anyway.” He gestured to Blake. “Anyhow, have a good evening boss.” The two goons walked out of the bar, leaving the teams to their meeting.

————-

Blake sat on Yang’s right side, her eyes felt heavy. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and all she wanted to do was sleep, but business needed to be take care of.

It was decided unanimously that this issue needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later. “Adam is a coward, that much is clear,” Weiss said, “but just because he’s a coward doesn’t mean we can’t underestimate him.”

Blake nodded in agreement, “what we need to do is act before he can. We need teams to do recon around their territory and border.” She laced her hands together and put her elbows on the table, “we also need to choke them, force them to come into the light.”

“And how would we do that?” Ruby asked.

Blake was silent, contemplating her next words. Then...

“We need to attack their import and export stations.”

There was a cry of indignation that went up around the table.

“Are you kidding? That’s suicide for whoever goes in!” Jaune exclaimed.

She nodded, “which is why I’ll be going in.”

It was Yang’s turn to protest, “what?” She slammed her good fist on the table, “no fucking way. I’m not letting you do that.”

Blake looked eyes with her, “you’re not letting me?”

Yang matched her gaze, “yes. As your boss I’m forbidding you from going on this suicide mission.”

“And as my lover? Will you still try to control me?”

The whole table sucked in a collective breath. Ren took a step back, pulling Nora along.

Ruby perked up, no longer leaning on Weiss. She was ready to jump in at the first sign as violence.

Blake and Yang stared at each other for a solid minute before Yang sighed and put her head down. “Look, Blake.” She ran her hand through her hair, “I don’t want to control you. You’re your own person, but...”

“But?”

“But I don’t want to see you get hurt! Blake, you’re important to me. If I lost you.. I... I don’t know what I would do.”

Blake put a hand on her cheek. Yang took her hand and kissed the palm, “please don’t do this,” she pleaded.

“I have to do this. I’m the only one who can.”

Yang looked up, “What do you mean?”

“Adam won’t try to kill me...”

Yang’s hair fluffed up in anger,“You don’t know that!”

“Yes, I do. Adam is a man of pride,” she explained. “If he kills me, it’s admitting that he couldn’t control me. It would be admitting failure, and that he was weak.”

“So he won’t lay a hand against you,” Jaune concluded.

Yang shook her head, “no, it’s still too dangerous. What if someone else in the White Fang try’s something? Or he snaps and kills you anyway.”

Blake looked at the members of the table, “none of the members will try to kill me. My parents were leaders in the White Fang before defecting after Adam took over. Not to mention Adam will have a ‘do not kill’ on me. If he wants me dead, he’ll be the one who wants to do it.”

“And how do you know all this?” Yang asked, skeptical.

Blake smirked, “I was part of his inner circle when I was still there. I know how his twisted mind works.” She looked down, “I brought his terror among all of you, I should be the one to atone.”

Yang grasped her hand, “but you don’t have to atone for anything!”

“I know in your eyes I don’t,” she squeezed Yang’s hand, “but I need to do this for myself. I’ve lived in fear of him for too long. He’s been the monster that’s been haunting my dreams for the past two years,” her eyes became dark, “it’s time he’s put to rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the support! Please leave a comment!


	15. Demons we face in the day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan is discussed and set. Blake and Yang have a much needed talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok! Consider this my celebratory Christmas chapter. This was very self indulgent and I'm hope you're all happy with it. 
> 
> I've been sitting on the idea that other "gangs" exist in this world. So remnant is a city in a wider world with cities like Atlas are burrows like the Bronx or Brooklyn (forget about it). Other fandoms have their own cities, so there's not much interaction unless necessary. What do you guys think? I would love feedback.

The plan was set. Team CFVY will scout the area before the mission takes place. After Yang’s arm had healed, in about two weeks, Blake will sneak into the White Fang’s port. There, she will set explosives in key areas. Then, avoiding detection the whole time, she will sneak out and detonate the bombs from a safe distance. The rest of team RWBY will serve as backup.

Easy in, easy out.

“If only that’s how the world work,” Blake said to the teams. “He’s going to have heightened security after tonight. Goons are going to be on high alert. Getting in won’t be easy let alone placing the bombs.”

“There’s also the matter of the explosives themselves,” Weiss added. “Making explosives is a volatile process. One wrong move and the place could go up in flames. Finding someone to make them is going to be difficult.”

Jaune snapped his fingers, “what about the Japanese girl we met awhile back, Honey aki-something. She’s pretty good with explosives.”

The teams were collectively confused until Nora facepalmed. “Homura Akemi, you mean Homura Akemi.”

Jaune nodded, “Yeah, her.”

Yang shook her head, “nice idea, but we don’t have the time for the negation of transport, protection, and pay of another gang’s member. Negations themselves can take two weeks at bare minimum. Not to mention she’s in _Japan.”_

His shoulders sunk, “Jeez, sorry, it was just an idea.”

Phyrria patted his shoulder sympathetically, “it was a nice idea though.”

Weiss sighed, “Ideas are all nice and swell, but we need action. What are we going to get explosives from?”

Yang paused for a moment, deep in thought. “Hold up” she asked herself quietly, “could it work?”

“What could work?”

“Ironwood and Polendina.”

Ruby cocked her head in confusion, “what?”

“We can get explosives from Ironwood and Polendina,” Yang stated.

It was Blake’s turn to facepalm, “oh my God, why didn’t we think of that before.”

Nora nudged Jaune and smirked, “and you wanted to bring in some chick from Japan.” 

His ears dusted light red, “it sounded like a good idea at the time.”

Blake ignored Nora and Jaune’s squabble and pressed on, “now that we have explosives taken care of, now all we need to do is wait and make preparations.”

“Ruby, can you take to Polendina, see what you can do? Weiss, you have Ironwood,” Yang ordered. The pair nodded, affirming that they can do it. “Good. JNPR, I need you to tell CFVY to see me as soon as possible. Afterwards, Nora and Ren, I need you on weapons prep for worst possible circumstances. Jaune and Phyrria, you will be running the main joint till further notice. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes boss,” they said in unison.

She turned to Blake. The woman cocked an eyebrow, as if challenging to give her orders. Yang caught her gaze. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before settling in saying, “you know what you have to do?”

Blake smiled and nodded, “affirmative.”

Yang let out a long, drawn out breath. Her shoulders drooped, “Just... be careful out there guys.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder, “we will.”

———————-

When they finished the meeting it was three in the morning.

_And by god did they feel it. _

Nora had fallen asleep and drooled on Ren’s shoulder. Jaune was struggling to keep his eyes open during Weiss’s lecture about strategy. It was when Ruby had fallen off her seat that they decided to call it a night.

Weiss decided to stay over, claiming that it wasn’t wise to take a motorcade back home with the White Fang breathing down their necks. Blake would agree with her logic, but the fact that Ruby had decided to become a koala bear and attach herself to Weiss’s back made Blake think, maybe, just maybe, Weiss had an ulterior motive.

_Maybe._

Weiss was half carrying Ruby up to her room, Ruby being near dead to the world, when Yang and Blake decided to retire to their quarters.

The ride up the lift was quiet. Yang reached to hold Blake’s hand, but she pulled away. Yang understood and gave her space. She knew Blake was going through something, and pressing physical contact would only make her more upset.

When they got to their room, Yang made a beeline to the couch. Blake was stuck at their doorway, lost in her own mind.

_I can believe I only move in today_, she thought as she looked around the room, _it feels like a lifetime ago. _

“What’cha thinking about?”

Blake snapped back to reality, “what?”

“I asked what you were thinking about.” Yang had draped herself across the couch like a heroine of some cheesy romance novel that had a flair for the dramatic. She had discarded her jacket and popped the first two buttons of her shirt.

Blake waved her hand in dismissal, “nothing important.”

Yang rolled her eyes, “oh, please, you have your serious thinking face on.”

She blinked in confusion, “my what?”

“You know,” Yang screwed up her face in mock concentration. She couldn’t hold it for long before breaking out into a goofy grin, “that face you make when you’re thinking about super serious stuff.”

Blake scoffed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She noticed the brief look of sadness on Yang’s face before the blond hid it with another smile. Blake knew Yang was trying to make her feel better, but right now, she didn’t know what _better_ felt like.

Yang chuckled, “fine, be all mysterious then.” She tried to prop herself up but groaned in pain.

Blake’s cat ears swiveled, a sign that she was concerned. She pulled a first-aid kit out from her bag and ran over to Yang, “let me see the arm.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Yang tried to pull away, but Blake’s grip was steadfast. “What the- Blake I said let go.”

“Let me see the arm,” Blake snarled.

Yang raised her eyebrows in surprise and let her arm relax. She had never seen Blake this agitated before, even during their worst fights. She tried to start a conversation, but Blake said nothing, only making small apologies when Yang winced in pain. She redressed the wound like Salem had taught her to. When she was done, she poured a small glass of whiskey and offered it to Yang. “Here,” she said, “for the pain.”

Yang thanked her and sipped the drink. They sat in silence; The air was thick with questions and secrets. Blake had sat herself down on a plushy, black arm chair. The events of that evening running through her head. It was perfect at first, her moving Ilia in: herself moving in with Yang: the bar doing well. Then shit hit the fan, Adam arriving: Ilia being hurt again: Adam demanding she come back: her lover being shot by that _man._ All her thoughts were swirling and they all had one main theme, the bastard that ruined her life. Her body felt cold, but her head was warm, like cotton. It was becoming hard to breathe. 

She heard a glass hit the floor and boots coming over to her. She flinched, her instincts, no, her conditioning, expecting punishment, but it was Yang. She had lowered herself onto her knees, trying to talk to her. “Blake, what’s wrong?”

Blake could only make half responses, barely able to choke out an answer. Tears were leaking down her cheeks, leaving red marks in their wake. Her eyes were glassy, her breaths sharp and short.

“Babe,” Yang said softly, “talk to me, please.” Blake stopped for a moment, making eye contact with her. Yang reached up to cup her cheeks, “see, everything is fine.” With that statement Blake let out an unearthly wail and ripe herself away from Yang’s hand. She curled up into a ball, tucking her knees to her chin, hiding her face.

The blond recoiled at the sound. It was clear to her that Blake had been holding her emotions in for a long time. She had not seen Blake act like that since she first received Adam’s letter. Then it hit Yang, she was having a panic attack, and a serious one at that. God, she felt like an idiot. She should have seen the signs sooner, but this was no time to dwell on the past. She let out a steadying breath to psych herself up, “You got this.”

“Blake, darling,” she said, “you need to listen to me and steady your breathing. Please, look at me.” Blake looked up slightly, but most of her face was still obscured. But progress was still progress. “Blake, you’re safe,” she reached out slowly and placed a soft hand on her, “is this ok?”

Blake nodded and placed her other hand over Yang’s. “Good,” Yang said, “now I need you to count to ten with me. It doesn’t have to be aloud, just count with me.” She counted slowly, keeping eye contact the whole time with her. Blake slowly lifted her head, she could see her mouthing the numbers. Her ears slowly started lifting up and breathing became steadier. They did this a few times until her breathing was fully under control.

Yang smiled at her warmly, “that’s my girl.” She took Blake’s hand and put it to her forehead. “My amazing, badass girl.” She continued, “so courages, dazzling..”

Blake snorted and pushed her away, “ok, I get it.” She still felt tears running down her face. She asked her shyly, “do you mind getting me some tissues, and some water?”

“Not at all,” Yang got up quickly and like lighting came back with the requested items. Blake gave a small thanks and downed the glass in one go. Yang sat down besides her, “I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t hold our emotions in, that we would talk about our problems.”

Blake looked away in shame, “I’m sorry. Everything has been happening so quickly, I haven’t had the time to even process my feelings let alone talk about them.”

“No need to be sorry. Just promise me if you’re dealing with something this major that you’ll go to someone. It doesn’t have to be me, it could be Ren or Ilia or anyone that you trust. That’s all ask.”

She took a deep breath and looked back at Yang, but her lover was looking past her. She cocked her head in confusion, “what is it?” She turned her head in the direction that Yang was looking and let out a small gasp.

The city was covered in sparkling snow, and the storm showed no sign of stopping any time soon. She got up and rushed to the window, marveling at the first snow of the season.

Yang watched in amusement of her fascination with the outside scenery. Blake had mentioned in the past that she grew up on a tropical island, so she didn’t see much snow. Seeing snow always amazed her, especially the first snowfall because nothing had been plowed. The roads were sheets of solid snow, the windows sparkled with ice and snowflakes. Blake was so captivated by the snow that she almost didn’t notice Yang wrap her arms around her midsection. They stood there in silence, watching the snow fall.

Yang nuzzled her face into Blake’s hair, “are you alright?”

She chuckled, “when am I ever?”

Yang shrugged against her, “that’s fair.” She paused for a moment, “you never answered my earlier question.”

She leaned onto her shoulder still watching the snow, “what question?” She teased.

“Blake,” Yang whined, “I’m serious.”

“As am I,” Blake said.

Yang let go and stepped in front of her. She took Blake’s hands in her, “promise me that you’ll talk to someone when you need to. No more bottling up your emotions, alright?”

Blake smiled up at her and hugged her, “I’ll talk about my problems when I need to, alright.”

“Promise?”

She gave her a small kiss, “promise.”

Yang broke out into a huge grin and looked out onto the city. She intertwined her fingers in Blake’s, “I’ll always be there for you, you know that right?”

Blake squeezed her hand, “I know, and I’ll be there for you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate. 
> 
> I realize the description of snow is so romanticized, but in reality I know what snow is actually like and it may be pretty, but it's a pain to shovel.
> 
> Please leave feedback, it's appreciated.


	16. The demons we face in the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang have a conversation that they've needed to had for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for myself.

_“Come here,” a voice whispered, “I need you Blake, come back to me.”_

_Blake felt like she was floating even though she felt solid ground beneath her feet. She saw nothing, only a gaping void. There was no up or down, only mist and a feeling of disorientation. She looked around, her vision blurring everything. _

_“Yang.” _(Who else could it be?) _God why was everything so fuzzy? “Where are you?”_

_“Come here,” the voice repeated. It didn’t answer her question, but nevertheless she _ ** _felt _ ** _like she knew where she was going. She was drawn to the presence, like a moth to a flame. Her legs weren’t functioning correctly, not obeying her commands. “Blake, I need you,” the voice called out urgently._

_“I’m trying.” Suddenly, her legs started moving on their own accord. Her brain was too foggy to register anything except ‘find the voice.’_

_She walked for what felt like an eternity until she found _someone. _That someone had their back turned to her. Despite not knowing who it was a wave of relief flooded her. “I’m here,” she smiled._

_It had to be Yang, just had to be. Who else could fill her with such joy, such relief-_

_“I knew you would come back to me Blake,” the person said, still not turning around. _(Something about that voice felt wrong.)

_“What do you mean? I was always here,” she said breathlessly, “and I will always come back if I ever left.” _(Why is she out of breath?)

_The voice gave a chilling laugh. _(Why did that laugh feel so familiar?) _“Oh Blake,” the figure turned around, “I knew you would always come back.”_

_Blake felt her stomach drop. “Adam?” She went on the defensive, “where’s Yang?” He smiled at her, a shiver racked up and down her spine. She always found his smile sickening. “Answer me!”_

_He laughed again, “Why does it matter? He walked towards her, his boots clacking with every step. She tried to step back, to flee from the monster, but her legs refused to cooperate. She was paralyzed, and under his mercy. When he reached her, he cupped her cheek. She squirmed trying to get him to let go, but he laughed._

_“No,” she said quietly, “no, no, no, let me go. Let go of me, please.” All he did was flash another wicked grin. He leaned down to kiss her, but her legs started working in the nick of time. She turned around to flee, _(escape, run, don’t let him near you. Not again, not ever again.), _but something pulled her back. She let out a sharp cry, scrambling to get away, but his grip held fast. It took her minute to realize that her hair was long again, not in her bob. Her breathing became erratic as she looked down and see that she was in her white fang uniform. The white corset that always made her quick to lose her breath, her ill fitting black tights that were always so uncomfortable _(but those tights were what _he_ liked.) _Finally, her black shroud that always hid the worse of the bruises, his bruises._

_“STOP,” she cried out, “Why can’t you leave me alone, I’m not yours.”_

_He chuckled darkly, “but you are Blake, you promised it yourself. You will always be mine,” he put his hand over her mouth. She tried to struggle but her body was lead, and the last thing she heard was his voice hissing in her ear, “mine.”_

———

Blake jolted up with a scream, tears running down her face. Everything was still dark, so when she felt movement next to her she leapt away, but in doing so she fell over. When the movement continued she shouted, “stay away from me!”

Light flooded her vision as a lamp was flicked on. She blinked a couple times, allowing her brain to catch up with her surroundings. She wasn’t in that awful void with _him_, she was on the carpeted floor of her room. It was clear she fell off the bed because she was still partially tangled in a blanket, and her book from last night was knocked off the night stand, presumably from her flailing. She took a couple seconds to calm down her breathing and wipe her tears away. 

“Honey?” A voice still thick with sleep asked, “what’s the matter?” 

Blake jumped from the voice, senses still being affected by her dream. She looked up to see Yang, who didn’t look fully awake. She was wearing an orange tank top, her hair was stuck up at all angles, giving her the look of a cartoon lion. 

When Blake didn’t answer, she rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Babe, are you alright?”

She nodded, “yeah, I’m good.” As she regained her composure, she ran her fingers through her bob, gently pulling on the strands to bring her back to reality.

Yang started to get up but was waved down by Blake. She settled back down into the bed, but she was staring intently at her girlfriend.

Blake stood up up and recollected herself for a few moments. She noticed that Yang was now fully awake and looked extremely concerned.

“Nightmares?”

She nodded silently. Yang sat up straighter and patted the spot next to her. Blake walked back to the bed and put her head on Yang’s lap. Yang started carding her fingers through Blake’s hair. She melted into the touch, adrenaline crashing after her ‘response’.

“Sorry I woke you up.”

Yang shrugged, “Nightmares are nightmares doll, can’t exactly control them.” She gave a noncommittal ‘hm’ and they lapsed into silence.

“You want to talk about it?” Yang asked, “it must have been pretty bad.”

“Not particularly.”

“Alright.” Another pause, “you’re a terrible liar, you know that right?”

Blake propped herself off of Yang’s lap, “I am not.”

“Yes you are,” Yang said, amused. She gently brushed her hand on Blake’s cheek, “something is clearly wrong.”

Blake’s cat ears flattened against her head, “and why would you think that?”

“Because no one wakes up from a nice fluffy dream or bizarre nightmares screaming and crying,” Yang said. Her voice softened, “you promised to tell me if something was bothering you.”

She looked away, ashamed. She knew she made a promise, but a promise like that was hard to keep, especially for someone like her. Blake despised herself, “_you’re always breaking promises_,” a voice in her head hissed. She looked back at Yang, expecting to see annoyance or even anger, but all she could see in those lilac eyes was concern and absolute devotion. “I-“ she started, but no other words could follow. 

Yang reached over and rubbed her back, “take your time. Healing ain’t exactly a thing that can be rushed.”

Blake took a couple deep breaths before she spoke. “Remember the first time we slept together?”

The blond’s eyebrows raised in confusion, “uhhhh, yeah.” Her face went crimson, “oh my god were you crying because I’m that bad?”

“What, no,” Blake shot up. She took one look at Yang’s face and couldn’t help but laugh, it was bright red and her eyes were wide with panic. She placed a hand on her shoulder, “you’re fine dear, wonderful even.” Yang let out a sigh of relief, but her face still had a tinge of red. “Anyway, remember what happened afterwards?”

Yang looked puzzled for a moment and then answered, “you cried. I thought it was because I hurt you in some way.”

Blake shook your head, “but you did the exact opposite. For the first time in a long time I felt loved and cared for, like I was person who deserved to be happy too.” 

She connected the pieces in her head, “and Adam never made you feel that way? Ever?”

The Faunus shook her head, “my devotion blinded me. I thought sex was just like _that_.”

“Like what?” Yang asked, an edge to her voice.

A pause. “Painful,” she said quietly, “short, like work even.” She looked to the back wall, staring off into the distance. Her voice was pragmatic, but her eyes were telling a different story. 

It was a story of pain and lost time. 

“I didn’t know what it was supposed to be like, I just laid down and accepted whatever I got. If I was lucky, I walked out of there in a short amount of time and minimal blood loss.” She heard Yang take a sharp intake of breath. She looked over to see Yang’s eyes filled with fury, but she nodded her head, telling her to go on. “I was afraid to go to anyone, even Ilia. I was afraid if I said anything wrong and Adam heard, I would get hurt. Or even worse, the person I was talking to would get hurt. It’s partially why I left the White Fang, so I wouldn’t be reasonable for anyone else getting hurt.” Her eyes began to tear up, “but even though I left, people still got hurt because of me.”

“No,” Yang said sharply. Blake jumped and saw her lovers eyes were glowing red, but when she saw Blake’s terrified expression she calmed down. Yang placed her hand on the bed, offering it to her. “It wasn’t your fault that those people got hurt. It was because of him and his need to maintain his ego.” 

“Are you angry?” Blake asked, “because I didn’t tell you earlier?”

“By the gods no, I am not angry. I was upset because of what the monster did to you. How he traumatized you and took your life away.”

She felt a pressure on her hand when Blake gently grabbed it, “he didn’t take all of it though. I still have the rest of my life with you.”

Yang’s heart melted at Blake’s sentiment. She took Blake’s hand and kissed it in apology, “I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.”

Blake took her hand and brushed a lock of hair out of her lovers face. “I forgive you.” She leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Her kisses with Yang were always warm, like a furnace or sunlight. Well, they gave her the same feeling anyway. When she pulled away, Yang was holding on to her, rubbing the back of her head and playing with her hair.

She put her forehead onto Yang’s, letting her lover’s breathing soothe her. “We should get some sleep.”

Yang nodded, but when Blake got up to pick up the blankets and book she knocked over, a question floated into her mind. “Why now?”

“Hm,” Blake brow furrowed in confusion.

“Why did you have this nightmare just now? Was it because he came back that these memories resurfaced?”

“Well, kind of.” She chewed on her bottom lip, debating wether or not she should tell her. _I did promise to tell her anything that was wrong. _“It was when he was fighting Ruby.”

“His fight with Ruby?”

“Yes. Remember when he pinned down Ruby?”

Yang snorted, “how could I forget? I ready to kill the bastard right then a there.”

She nodded, “well, what you didn’t see was what he did to her.”

Her eyes narrowed, “what did he do?”

“It’s…” she trailed off, “it’s easier to show you.” She sat down next to Yang and pulled back her hair to reveal her human ear. Everything looked fine at first glance, but on closer inspection Yang could see that pieces of the ear were _ripped off, _but the damage wasn’t so major physically that it would warrant comment. But Yang had to guess the experience was mentally traumatizing. “Close to the end of my time there, he bit off a piece of my ear. It was his sick way of ‘claiming’ me.” She dropped her hair to recover the ear, “when he pinned Ruby down, he made sure I saw him lick to shell of her ear. I don’t know why, but it just…” 

“Hurt you,” she finished. 

Blake nodded, “yeah.”

Yang pulled her in for a hug. “I promise on my life that I will stop this monster so you can finally live peacefully.”

Blake smiled, “Thanks Yang.” She reached over to the nightstand and flicked off the lights, “now let’s get some sleep.”

Yang agreed and laid down next to her. She curled into her embrace, letting Yang’s breathing lull her to sleep.

What she didn’t know was that Yang had no plans of falling asleep.. She protectively looped and arm over Blake. Despite the soft snores of her lover, her eyes were wide open, calculating, and the color of fire.

———————

Not to far from the Dragon’s hideout, a figure with similarly fire red hair cloaked in white stood over a dead body on a rooftop. She was holding the mask of the dead goon at her feet. “So that’s what you’re planning,” she whispered into the night. She crushed the mask in her hand and let the pieces scatter onto the ground.

“Not on my watch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and sticking with this story. Sorry about the long hiatus.
> 
> Please leave a comment, I appreciate the feedback.


	17. Planning pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake needs information

When Blake woke up, her first thought was “it’s too cold.” She reached over the other side of the bed, expecting the warm mass of her girlfriend. But, all she felt was the now cold sheets, and her bed was empty except for her. She shot up, worried, “Yang?” She called out.

There was scuffling in the kitchen and Yang popped her her head out. She saw a Blake visibly relax, her ears drooping in relief. It was clear to her that her mini- disappearance freaked out Blake. She flashed a sheepish smile, “sorry about scaring you,” she held up two steaming cups of coffee, “can a cup of joe serve as an apology.”

Blake made grabby hands at the coffee. “Give me,” she said, her tone childlike. Yang chuckled, and brought over the coffee. She sat down on the bed, handing her the cup. Blake took the coffee gratefully, and took large gulps while Yang took small sips.

After her drink, she eyed Yang. Her girlfriend, much to her surprise, was fully dressed. She was wearing a dark, two piece suit without the jacket. Her symbol was stacked onto the breast of her vest. Her hair was tied up into a clean, yet somehow still unruly bun. Blake wondered how late she had slept in and looked at the clocks. Even more surprising than her girlfriend being put together before her, the hands on the clock indicated it was 7:30.

She turned to Yang, bewildered, “it’s 7:30 am.”

Yang looked over Blake’s shoulder at the clock, “so it is.”

She repeated herself, enunciating the time to show her disbelief, “it’s 7:30.”

“And?”

“You’re never up before 10:00, and even then I have to drag you out of bed.”

Yang shrugged, “I had a lot of things I needed to do. I though an early start would help.”

Something about how she said that made Blake’s shoulders sank, “you couldn’t sleep because of me, of what I said last night, isn’t it?”

“Well,” she scratched the back of her neck, “kind of.” She saw the panic in Blake’s eyes and began to back track, “it wasn’t your fault per se. Honestly, it was more what he did to you. It got me thinking, ‘what could I do to get back at him for hurting you.’ I needed to hurt him in a way that mattered. It’s clear he doesn’t care about other people, so what does he care about.”

“His power. He hates not being in control.”

She nodded, “I was able to gather that after about two hours of staring at the wall. The next step is, ‘how do we strip him of his power?’ Well,” she paused, “we already thought of it last night. We have to destroy his main base of operations. The question is, where it is and what’s their weaknesses are.” She got up and grabbed a paper from the mess on the coffee table. Apparently, she had been up for more than she let on.

As she placed the plans into Blake’s lap, she explained, “I had my men dig up as much information as they could on the White fang. Bases of operations, allies, amount of weaponry...”

“And what did you find?”

“Absolutely nothing,” she growled in annoyance. “After the White Fang went on a terrorist route, information on them has been nada. Not even false reports or vague statistics.” She pounded her fist on the bed, “it’s like they’ve gone completely dark.”

“It’s because they have,” Blake said.

“What?”

“It was towards the beginning of his reign, about a year before I left. The white Fang has gone deep underground once Adam took over. He had us move around every two weeks, constantly bouncing around from one operation to the next. We had a main base,but only a few could go. And even then that moved around every six months. He was paranoid, he always thought that someone was after him.” She put her cup down and took a closer look at the plans, “but why would they go completely off the grid? Sure, other Faunus gangs disapproved of his methods, but cutting off all contact with them would do more harm than good.”

Yang shrugged, “maybe their doing something so heinous that other gangs may attack rather than help. Or his paranoia finally got to him.”

Blake nodded, “that is a possibility, but we need more information.”

“And how, exactly are you planning to find information on a gang that’s constantly moving around and is completely in hiding? The only way to do that is find someone who was part of it recently....” she stopped.

Yang looked over at Blake. Blake was grinned from ear to ear, “I know someone.”

——-

It’s been so long since she was able to hang out with Illia one on one. Besides the convenience of needed information, Illia was a source of comfort and support for Blake. She needed to talk to her about so many things. She planned on talking to her after her performance, but her scuffle with Adam caused her more damage than Illia calculated.

And that’s how Blake ended up sitting next to her bedside while the doctor scolded her for her behavior.

“According to Ozpin, you weren’t supposed to be moving around for another two weeks.” Pink began to tinge Illia’s cheeks. “And yet you deemed yourself fit enough to work guard duty at a speakeasy of a powerful mob boss with many enemies.”

Illia’s face was hot pink, “I, uh, well…”

“There is no ‘wells’. You’re lucky the stitching didn’t completely unbind or you would have bled to death. Didn’t you understand how risky throwing yourself at a homicidal maniac…”

Blake raised her hand like she was back in school, afraid to verbally interrupt the doctor. The woman looked up, “Yes Miss Belladonna, what is it?”

“I think she’s gets way your trying to say. Illia was just trying to help us, to pay us back as soon as possible.” She grasped Illia’s hand, “she has a bit of a guilt complex,” like me she added silently. “From we are from, we were taught to repay favors at any cost. So, logically, it makes sense why she started working before she fully healed.”

The woman pushed up her glasses and turned to Illia, “is this true?” Illia nodded sheepishly. The doctor pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, “Please don’t push yourself to hard, alright?” Illia started to nod, but the woman added, “and I better not see you out of this bed for the next week at the least, understand?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Blake covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. The woman looked between the two of them before turning to Blake, “and I expect you’ll see to it that she actually listens to me?”

She nodded, “she’s in capable hands Glyndia.”

Gyndia smiled softly at her before turning around and walking out of the room. Once the clicking sound of her heels couldn’t be heard, Illia turned to Blake, “she’s terrifying.”

Blake didn’t hold back her laughter this time, “that’s just Glyndia for you. She means we,l, even if she does come off as intimidating.”

Illia shook her head, “she’s more than just ‘intimidating.’ It felt like she could read my mind or something,” her eyes became haunted, “every thing I had ever done, every sin, it came crawling back...” she was cut off when Blake brought her into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry that I left you there, could you ever forgive me?” Illia became quiet, Blake was almost scared of the answer until she felt arms wrapping around her back.

“You don’t need to apologize. You did what you had to do to survive. In fact, if we’re apologizing then can I say something.”

“What do you need to apologize for?”

“For keeping you there.” Blake let in a sharp intake of breath. “It was because of me you stayed there, right?”

Blake pulled back and looked her friend in the eye, “Illia...”

“No, let me finish. I know you stayed there because of me. You didn’t want to leave me alone, and for that I am ever thankful. When you left, I was angry and hurt, but in reality I think part of me was glad you were gone.”

“What?”

Her voice rose an octave, “you didn’t think I saw what he did to you! Blake, I remember staying awake until you came back from him. You didn’t think I heard your tears, saw how you squeezed your thighs together in pain. He was using you, and I hated him for doing it.”

“Than why didn’t you leave? Why didn’t you come find me.”

“I had nowhere to go. I was afraid, afraid of what would happened if I left, who I would leave behind.” She looked down at her wound, “and I guess I was right to a degree.”

“Oh, Illia,” she hugged her again, “you don’t have to suffer anymore, you’re safe.”

Illia eyes watered, “you don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I have a feeling I do. Finding a place where you’re truly safe is a miracle that can bring so much joy.”

Illia wiped away her tears, “you can say that again.” She pulled away from Blake, “anyway, I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here for a reunion. What do you need?”

Blake sighed, “well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for awhile.”

“And,” she rolled her eyes, “I know that you need something else. You’re still a terrible liar after all these years.”

Blake gawked, “why does everyone say that?”

“Because it’s true!”

“Is not!”

“Is too.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you.”

“Finally! What do you need? Information to take down the White Fang? Because I would be happy to oblige.”

Blake was surprised, “actually, yeah. I need any information on the main base of operation. He had a habit of moving it around, so I don’t know where it is. We also need weapon number, goon number...”

Illia grinned, “get a pad of paper and a pen, you’re gonna want to write this all down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s so short guys. Next chapter will be way longer.
> 
> Leave a comment, I appreciate the feedback


	18. Planning pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We catch up with team JNPR, and Blake continues planning with Yang and Ilia

It was raining outside their window.

Nora didn’t want to get up. It was warm under the covers, her arm wrapped around Ren’s torso. The chilly air and her warm boyfriend were the perfect combination for a early, lazy morning. However, she knew it wasn’t going to last long. She couldn’t hear his snoring anymore, and his breathing was faster than earlier, indicating that he was awake. Even though he was an early riser, he stayed in bed a couple of extra minutes. Ok, extra half hour to allow Nora to fully wake up. Although if it was up to her, they would be sleeping till noon.

Ren looked at the clock, in the dim light it read 7:30. He looked at Nora, who was wrapped around him like he was a teddy bear. He sighed, this is going to be tricky, he thought. Ren tried to extract himself from her grasp, but she held on tight. He rubbed her back to rouse her, “Nora it’s time to get up,” he said gently.

“No,” she whined, “stay here.”

“We have work to do today, remember.”

She burrowed herself farther into his chest, “no,” she whined louder, “don’t wanna.”

“I’ll make you pancakes if you let me go.”

Nora’s eyes opened a hair, “you better be serious.” She was shooting daggers at him. He knew how to make her do what he wants, and she knew it. But one does not simply refuse pancakes in her mind.

He smiled, knowing he got her attention, “you can do breakfast in bed too if you promise to leave by 9:00.”

She huffed, “fine, we’ll be out by 9:00!” She dramatically flopped over off of Ren and buried her face into her non human pillow. She heard him shuffle out of bed and grumbled, “but they better be the best damn pancakes in the world to make me wake up this early.”

Ren chuckled and kissed the back of her ear, “they may not be the best in the world but I’ll try my best.” He grabbed a flowing green robe off the hook of the bed and put it on. “And for the record, 7:30 am isn’t early.”

“It is to normal people,” Nora said as she sat up and stretched.

He cocked and eyebrow at her, “and since when have we been normal?”

She laughed, “you have a point there.” She pauses for a moment, “do you think we could?”

Ren turned around from the kitchen counter, confused, “what do you mean?”

“Do you think we could ever be normal. We would have to leave the Dragons to strike out on our own, but imagine it. We could own a little bakery or something, have a little apartment right above it that always smelled of cookies. Our room may not be as lavish as this, but it would still perfect for us.” Her eyes took on a dreamy quality, “maybe we’d have a kid. A cute little girl with your long, dark hair and my bright blue eyes. She’d hopefully have your level head.”

“But she would have your sparkling personality and smile,” he added on much to her surprise. He walked over and sat at her side, “but if she’s anything like you she would probably steal all the pastries before we would have the chance to put them in the display cases.” They stayed silent, each imagining their perfect future. The little bakery, the little room, their little girl.

Ren combed her fingers through Nora’s hair, “look. If you want to leave the Dragons, we can leave.”

“What?” She swung her legs off the bed, making Ren shuffle aside, “Ren you know we can’t do that. After all they’ve done for us, this is our home, our family. They took us in when the factory shut down. We had no where to go, forced the scavenge on the streets and now,” she shook her head, “we can’t leave them. It’s not right.”

“Nora,” he cupped her left cheek, “this dream of ours, it is possible. You know Yang won’t force us to stay, she’s not Raven. We won’t be punished or get our fingers removed or something if we leave. She out of all people will understand. We’ve been playing this game for five years, since we were fourteen, it’s understandable that eventually we would want out.”

She sighed and rubbed her face into Ren’s palm, “I know, I know. It just... would be hard to leave for me. The adrenaline, the rush I get when I protect my fellow members, there’s no way replace that. Not to mention that we would probably never see the others again.”

“Who says we would never see the others again? They could visit if they wanted. Imagine if we were the ones who made the wedding cake for Jaune and Phyrria’s wedding.”

Nora snorted, “as if they would set a date. My bet is on Yang and Blake to be first of all of us to get married.”

He rolled his eyes, “nevertheless, we could still be in contact with the gang. I mean, we could still do some work for them if necessary.”

“Uhhhhh, I think not.”

“If Ozpin and Salem can run a medical outlet for gang members I think we can do a little mercenary work here and there.”

She snickered, “yeah. When Yang needs our help she could just come in through the back door. Although she would probably just kick it open and shout ‘get your asses in the car’ and leave it at that.”

“It would be payback for all those times you kicked open her office door, and private quarters door, and her training room door-“

“I get it, I get it, jeez Ren.” She smiled, “but she would do that.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed her face, “and keep in these plans mind that this is a long way off. We’re only nineteen, we have awhile.”

She nodded, “we do.” Nora took Ren’s palm and kissed the base of it, “we do.” They sat their for moment, enjoying the quiet before the storm.

Then Nora’s stomach growled. Ren burst out laughing and she smacked him on the arm, “this is your fault! Fix it with pancakes like your promised or I will riot!”

“Yes your majesty,” he chuckled, “just give me a second.”

“Ren,” Nora said.

“What’s wrong Nora?”

She got up and touched the tip of his nose, “boop.”

——————————

Blake’s morning was going well. The operative word being was.

She, Yang, and Illia have been up at all odd hours comparing and gathering information. At first they would gather in the hospital room, cramped together with mountains of papers and files. Blake was worried that Yang’s endless questioning would ether tire out or annoy the hell out of Illia.

Illia was surprisingly fine with Yang’s bombardment of questioning. Hell, she enjoyed it from Blake’s perspective. She grinned ear to ear when she was able to fill in the gaps of knowledge, her eyes sparkled when she heard of Yang’s plans to take Adam down. At one point Yang questioned her for over eight hours and Blake had to chase her out before Glyndia did. Yang protested, and Blake had to point out it was ether her or Glyndia’s whip.

Yang hightailed out of the room fast from the thought of Glyndia’s whip.

At one point when Blake was cleaning up the tornado of papers, she asked Illia, “how are you holding up with all of this?”

“I’m doing fine, why?”

“No, I mean, how? Most people would have snapped and thrown something at Yang at this point.”

Illia blushed and mumbled something that Blake couldn’t hear. “What was that? Can you speak up?”

“Uh, well don’t take this the wrong way, but... Yang is hot and I stare at her when she isn’t looking,” she rushed out.

“So... questioning time is just an excuse to ogle at my girlfriend?”

“Ummmm, yes,” Illia admitted sheepishly. Blake stood there for a long time, staring at her. “Uh, Blake... I’m sorry-,” she was cut off to Blake falling to the floor.

“Oh my god, Blake!” She rushed out of bed to Blake’s side. She kneeled next to her, “Blake are you ok?” She reached to touch her shoulder when Blake’s body started shaking. “Blake? Blake I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-,” it took Illia a minute to realize that the cat Faunus was shaking from laughter.

Blake picked up her head, tears were pricking at her eyes. “You’re fine Illia, just give me a second.” When she recollected herself, she said to Illia, “glad to know we both have good taste.” Ilia’s cheeks puffed up and they were both laughing.

The day after that incident, Illia was well enough to move around on her own. She was no longer restrained to the medical bed. She moved back into her room, but she couldn’t work in the speakeasy for another three weeks. Illia was fine with this, since it gave her more time to do research for the infiltration plan which will take place in two weeks, when Yang’s arm is fully healed.

During the day, she and Blake worked on catching up and formulating the infiltration. At night, they would meet up with Yang and go over their progress.

It was a nice little system to Blake. Of course they had their days off, and today was one of those days. She had been working hard on bomb placement to the point where Yang had to drag her to bed when the clock struck 1:00.

Blake and Yang had woken up around 8:00 and enjoyed a nice little breakfast. After they finished, Yang had to go down to her office because she had a meeting with Ironwood over weapon supplying at 8:45.

Around 8:30 Blake decided that she would go down and gather up the gang. Maybe I can get Ruby to spar with me. I need a little practice. When the elevator doors opened, she walked out to a scene she didn’t expect.

“Fight me you banana loving ass!”

“That’s racist!”

“Both of you, stop it!”

Phyrria was standing between Jaune and Sun, exasperated.Jaune looked ready to murder Sun, his hands balled into fists. Sun’s tail was swishing back and forth in irritation. The trio had gained an audience. She could hear people whispering about who would win and bets.

Blake sighed , oh come on. She walked towards the group shooing away the spectators, “all right, all right, nothing to see here. Move along.” People started to grumble but with one glare she was able to disperse them. When everyone left, she turned to Phyrria, “ok, what’s going on?”

“The guy with the banana hair stated it!” Piped Sun.

“No way. You were the one going after my girlfriend even after she said no, and my name is Jaune you… you unable to wear a shirt properly jerk!” Shot back Jaune.

“Alright, enough!” Phyrria shouted. She gripped both of them by the collar, “you, go back to your room!” She kicked open Sun’s door and lightly pushed him in. She turned to Jaune, “And you!” She lowered her voice to a softer tone, “please don’t pick fights for my sake. You know I can defend myself.”

Jaune nodded sheepishly, “I understand, I’m going to my room to cool off.” She let go of him and he went into his room.

Phyrria sighed, “sorry you had to see that fiasco Blake. I find it hard to imagine that stoping a fight is that last thing you wanted to do today.”

“You’re fine. I imagine standing between two raging blonde guys is that last thing you wanted to do to,” Blake said. They stood in silence for a moment before Blake asked, “what exactly happened?”

————

It was a hard morning for Phyrria. She had barely gotten any sleep from nightmares, and her coffee pot had a giant crack in it. She got up and grabbed the first clothes she saw and threw them on, not bothering to put up her hair. She grabbed her mug and headed to Jaune’s room. She knocked on his door, but no answer. She knew Jaune was a deep sleeper, but her tired brain was not having it. Still, she wanted to be polite, she rapped her knuckles again.

She heard a door open, “hey, hey what’s the racket?” It was Sun, his shirt hung open, displaying his pecs while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Though when he saw Phyrria he woke right up.

Phyrria whipped around, “oh, sorry I woke you up. I just wanted some coffee. My coffee pot is broken and I just needed some...”

“Don’t worry about it doll,” he flicked his tail, “you know, if you need coffee I have some in my room. I’m happy to share~”

Not wanting to be impolite she responded, “that’s kind of you, but-“

“She won’t be needed your coffee, Sun,” a voice cut in. Phyrria turned around to see an awake and peeved Jaune.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sun said.

“It means that she won’t need any of your coffee. I have plenty,” Jaune stepped forward, “It’s probably why she was at my door.”

“Look Banana hair, I was trying to be nice.”

“Banana hair?” Jaune said, incredulous.

“Well, in a fairness, it does look like you glued a bunch of bananas to your head.”

“That’s it,” Jaune rolled up his sleeves, “I have had it with the way you treat women here. First Neptune now you!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You flirt with every girl here, even if they’re clearly not interested.”

Sun let out an offended gasp, “I do not. First of all, I only flirt with the single ones...”

“Guess what bucko, Phyrria here isn’t single. She’s my girlfriend, so back off!”

“Oh I get it. When it comes to other girls you don’t say anything but as soon as it effects you them you get bugs up your ass!”

“Excuse you?” Jaune said, “do you want to go?”

—————

“And that’s when I walked in?” Blake finished.

Phyrria let out a long drawn out, “yup.”

Blake patted her back, “I know this may seems a bit late, but do you want to get some coffee?”

“God yes.”

As they turned to leave, they heard a door get kicked open. They quickly turned around, ready to fight. But it was Nora, grinning manically followed by a tired looking Ren. “I heard an argument, where’s the fight?” She whipped her head around like an owl.

“Sorry Nora, you just missed it,” Blake said.

“Awwwwwwww,” Nora pouted.

“Hey, lighten up Nora. If you really want to see a fight we can spar later,” Blake consoled. “I was actually planning on getting the gang together so we could all practice together before the big operation.”

Nora’s eyes brightened up immediately, “hell yeah! Let’s go!”

Phyrria shook her head, “fighting later. Coffee comes now or I commit homicide.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


	19. Planning part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the whole fiasco with Sun and Juane, the group goes down for some coffee. However, the operation may be in jeopardy because someone won't cooperate.

Phyrria was much calmer after her coffee. The group had gone down to the speakeasy since the bar had a coffee machine. Ren made both himself and Phyrria coffee while he started making Blake tea. Nora wanted a coffee too, saying she wanted one as black and bitter as her soul.

Ren handed her a hot chocolate full a sugar, with a smiley face to add insult to injury,

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Ren?” Phyrria said, concerned. He shrugged and went to finish Blake’s tea.

It was a nice scene, the four of them sitting at the bar top. The steam rolling off the hot mugs. The room was silent except for the occasional sigh. It was perfect, until they heard muffled shouting.

_What is going on?”_Blake though. Her ears flicked in irritation because her quiet moment was interrupted. _What idiot yells this early in the morning?_

Then Yang burst through the door, in the back of the speakeasy, livid.

_Crap, it’s my idiot._

Yang was following Ironwood out, seemingly trying to reason with him. Though from the outside, one would think she was shouting him down furiously.

“James, you have to see where I’m coming from here…”

“That’s Ironwood to you,” he said, clipped, “and I already told you, no.”

Yang balled her hands into fists, “He attacked my joint.”

“So you want to blow up his? That’s hardly a trade,” Ironwood scoffed.

“He shot me and tried to kidnap Blake!”

He stopped and turned to the angry blonde, “Isn’t being shot at part of the risks of being a mafia leader?”

“That’s not the point,” she sighed, trying to calm down, “look, Ironwood, we could really use the firepower.”

“Based on the documents I was shown, it seems like you have plenty.”

“But those are our _reserves, _if we use those then we’re at a bigger risk for attack. Please Ironwood, we need the resources,” she pleaded.

Ironwood shook his head, “I simply cannot condone this operation. You’re acting as if you’re going to war.”

At that statement Yang snapped, she shouted, “well the bastard basically declared war when he attacked my base!”

“And you don’t need to respond to it,” he shouted back, “that’s your problem. You think that every shot at you is a declaration of war when it isn’t. This line of thinking will get many of your men killed.”

“But it wasn’t a shot at me,” she defended, “it was a shot at Blake! Going after someone close to head boss deserves some sort of response than besides ignoring it!”

“All the more reason you shouldn’t respond. If you do, it shows that Blake is a weakness of yours and they _will _take advantage of that.”

_Weakness. _The word rang in Blake’s head like a church bell. _I’m nothing but a weakness?_

Ironwood’s words were like a blow to the gut for Blake. She was too focused on his words to notice him leaving. He wrapped his scarf tightly around his neck, and left with another word, and so did she.

———

_Well that was an uhnmigiageted disaster, _Yang thought. She turned and walked to the bar. She saw Blake and others out of the corner of her eye when she was speaking to Ironwood, but she couldn’t address them, cause, well, she was busy.

“Hey guys,” she greeted the group, “sorry you had to see that. Ironwood is being an ass about the whole thing. He won’t agree to give us any more weapons until the whole thing with the White fang is over.” She sat down next to Phyrria, “problem is that we’re running out. If we want to complete the mission on our current scale we need the ammo. He thinks I’m being,” she made air quotes, “ ‘unreasonable’ and ‘hot-headed’.”

She let out another heavy sigh and looked down the bar top. She noticed that one of the people she saw earlier was missing. “Hey, guys,” she said concerned, “where’s Blake?”

————

_Weakness._

The word kept ringing in her head as she punched the training dummy.

_I’m not a weakness. I’m _**_not _**_a weakness. _She punched the training dummy harder, _I’ll show Ironwood. I’ll show them all. I’m not useless, I’m not weak, _she threw another savage hit at the dummy. _I’m not weak._

_I’m not._

_I’m not._

Her vision started to water, but she kept punching. Her punches were getting sloppy, but she didn’t care. She wanted to prove that she wasn’t weak.

_I’m not a weakness._

_Oh, but you are, _a voice hissed.

_I’m not weak. I’m an asset. I can help with the operation and I will._

_Will you now? _The voiced laughed, _how can you be so sure. You heard what Ironwood said. If Yang responds, everyone will start targeting you._

_Stop._

_Everyone who wants the Dragons will target you and you know it. She’ll keep on protecting you, over and over and over again until eventually she’s falls. _She could imagine the voice shrugging, _or maybe she’ll finally see who you truly are. She’ll finally leave you, like you’ve been expecting her to all these years._

_Yang wouldn’t leave me, she loves me._

_Are you sure about that? You’re nothing but a weakness to her._

Tears gathered in her eyes as Blake gritted through he teeth with every punch, “get. Out. Of. My. Head!” She punched the dummy hard enough that part of it cracked off.

She heard a voice behind her, “wow.” Blake immediately turned around and screamed, charging at her opponent. She threw a punch, not bothering to see who it was. Her mind was screaming, _prove you’re not a weakness. Prove it!_

She felt the punch connect, but the person blocked it. She continued hitting. P_rove it. Prove it. Prove it. Prove it. _Her mind was chanting.

Her opponent caught her wrists, but that didn’t stop her. She screamed at them, “let me go. Let me go. I’m going to kill you if you don’t let me go.”

“Blake,” the voice said, “calm down, it’s me, Yang. You don’t have to fight me; I’m not your enemy.”

Blake stopped struggling. She blinked a couple times to clear out the water in her eyes. “Yang,” she croaked.

“Yeah Doll, it’s me,” Yang, eyes full of concerned,smiled at her softly.

The smile is what it took for Blake to finally break. “I’m not… *sob*… I’m not a weakness.”

Yang cupped her cheek, “I never said you were a weakness. What made you think that…”, she paused, “goddammit Ironwood.” She shook her head, “he was just being insensitive, I don’t think he actually meant it.”

“But he’s right and you know it.” Tears were pouring down Blake’s cheeks, “if people realize how close we are, other leaders could take advantage of it. You’re in danger of being with me. I’m nothing but a liability.”

The blonde shook her head, “you’re not a liability and you know it. You’re strong and tough. Hell, we need to get a new training dummy because you broke that one.” She gestured to the dummy, which was missing an arm and was developing a sizable crack. “I have a feeling where you got the idea that you were weak, but you’re not, you’re really not.”

Blake sniffed, “I’m not?”

“Hell no. As I said before you’re strong, and in more ways that one.” She put a finger under Blake’s chin so they could meet eye to eye, “I know you can’t see it, but I do. Everyday you surprise me with how strong you are and how much stronger you continue to grow. You’re the opposite of a weakness. You’re a strength to everyone around you.”

Blake sobbed, “thank you.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Just,” she wrapped her arms around Yang, “hold me.”

“As you wish.”

They stood in the training room like that. Yang petting her hair while Blake quietly cried into Blake’s shirt, letting the tears flow. They didn’t know how long they were in there, but it felt like no time at all when they started hearing the voices of the others.

Nora popped her head into the training room, “I found them!” She shouted back down the hall, “they’re in here.”

Blake and Yang separated when the rest of the group trickled in. Apparently they picked up Weiss and Ruby along the way. It was later explained to them that Ruby and Weiss had come down to grab some coffee too, and decided to join in on the hunt for Blake.

“Oh, by the way. When you ran off after Ironwood left I may have set up a search party for you,” Yang grinned sheepishly.

“Wow, thanks,” Blake said, her tone laced with sarcasm.

“Awwww, come on,” Nora teased, “It’s sweet when you think about it.”

“Yeah,” she reached and held Yang’s hand, “it kind of is.”

———-

The group reconvened at the bar. Ruby and Nora had taken down chairs so that they could all sit at a booth. Phyrria had sat across from Yang, who made it clear she didn’t give a damn about PDA in the slightest. She was sitting on Blake’s lap and combing her fingers through the Faunus’s locks. Despite appearances, they were not distracted though. The pair were listening to the red head’s words intently.

“You told me something earlier about how we don’t have enough resources to do the mission as the current scale.”

Yang nodded, “Yes, that is correct.”

“But what if we didn’t do the operation at the current scale. What of we downsized it. Less men, less weaponry, less cost.”

Blake rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “that could work.”

Phyrria sighed, “the problem is, downsizing is dangerous. If we don’t send in the right men, then we could blow the whole thing.

“I was going to go in anyway,” Blake said.

“But you were going to have backup.”

“Then I don’t have backup,” Blake shrugged, “make it easier on me.”

“Excuse me, what,” Yang was aghast, “no. You are not going in alone.”

“I can handle myself. Do you think I’m too weak to handle it myself?”

“What!? NO, of course not.” Yang tugged at her lip nervously, “I just think someone should be there to watch your back. You can’t be too careful after all.”

“Ok.” Blake thought for a moment, “can you?”

“Can I what?”

“Can you be my back up for the mission.”

Without a moment hesitation, she responded, “yes.”

“Are you insane!” Weiss cried out, “if you go in there and get yourself killed the Dragons might fall apart. Of all the bull headed ideas you’ve had this one takes the cake.”

Yang shrugged, “I’ve fought with my men before. What’s the difference now?”

“You’re going into enemy territory with only one other person. _Heavily _guarded territory if I may add.”

Yang nodded, “I see where you’re coming from, Weiss.”

“Excellent,” Weiss smiled smugly.

“That’s where you come in.”

“**_What?_**” Her jaw dropped.

“You and Ruby will cut the power to the base. When you do, Blake’s night vision will guide us around.” Weiss opened her mouth to protest before Yang continued, “and yes, I know all Faunus have night vision. But those masks obscure their eyesight heavily, not to mention the cutting the power will disorient them.”

Weiss shut her mouth and shrugged, “alright, fine.” She smiled, not a smug smile, but rather a proud smile, “you actually thought this through, huh?”

Yang smiled, “Yup, I guess someone is rubbing off on me.” She nudged Blake.

Blake blushed and coughed, “I actually have an idea too.”

“What is it,” Ruby asked.

“Why don’t we reopen the speakeasy. It’s been far to long, and reopening it will send the message that we aren’t scared of Adam or the White fang. We have a few nights before the mission, why don’t we celebrate them?”

Ruby nodded, enthused at the idea, “that’s great. And when you get back we can throw a huge party!”

Blake chuckled and nodded, “yeah, when we get back.” She looked at Yang, communicating in their silent language, _“We’ll make it back, won’t we?”_

Yang took her hand and kissed the knuckle, giving it a gentle squeeze, _“If I have anything to say about it, we will get back in one piece. Count on it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I love focusing on characters' inner struggles and how they combat their own inner demons. 
> 
> A/N : Even though Adam attacking the main base is like declaring war, the other gang doesn't have to reply. In fact, it's quite common that many gangs settle things after the first attack. However, because Yang is Yang, she tends to settle these declarations in fights if she gets them. Also Adam didn't attack her directly, he attacked Blake, which is a big no no.


	20. The day before.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake, Ruby, and Illia decide to have some fun before the big day. And Yang has a surprise that she hopes Blake likes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I'm going for a bit of a longer chapter. Maybe 4,000-5,000 words.  
Dark me: Do 7,000  
Me: What?  
Dark me: Did I stutter?
> 
> Well, this chapter was an absolute monster to write. It's partially why it took me so long to write it. This, honestly, is my favorite chapter of them all. I sincerely hope you all enjoy it.

The early morning sunlight slipped through the partially open curtains, casting a thin light into the otherwise dark room. The light hit Blake’s eyes. She groaned softly, annoyed by the sudden onslaught to her senses. Her eyes cracked open a hair so she could adjust. She yawned and felt that her mouth was dry and gross. _Must have slept with my mouth opened last night, _she thought.

She moved to get out of bed to get some water, but something was keeping her tethered to the bed. Yang had her right arm wrapped around Blake’s torso, her left one had wormed its way around her shoulders. She tested to see if she could unwrap the restraints, but Yang held on tight.

Blake craned her neck to look at her lover’s face. It was the most peaceful she had seen Yang in weeks. Her features were relaxed, not scrunched up in concentration or anger like when she was awake. She was letting out soft snores, showing that she wasn’t going to be up for a while. _I almost feel guilty for leaving._ But her mouth was still felt gross and she really wanted to remedy that with some water.

She tried to extract herself from Yang’s arms again, but she tightened her grip even more. “You’re too squirmy,” Yang mumbled.

“Oh, you’re awake I see.”

Yang huffed and buried her face deeper into Blake’s neck, “don’t wanna be.”

Blake smiled, amused at her partner’s immaturity in the morning. “You don’t have to be. Just let me get up.”

“But you’re warm,” Yang whined.

“Says the walking furnace.” Blake turned around to fully look at Yang, “I’ll be back in a minute. My breath tastes awful and I’m willing to bet it smells awful too.”

Yang shook her head, her eyes still closed, “your breath smells fine to me.” She let out a sigh, finally opening her eyes, “please stay with me, at least for a little while longer. It would mean a lot to me since...” she trailed off. She didn’t need to continue the thought because Blake knew exactly what she was talking about.

_Tomorrow is the day we strike back. Tomorrow may be our last day. _Blake mentally shook her head, _no, don’t start getting negative now. We’ll survive. We’ll win and we’ll come back. _She reached out and cupped Yang’s cheek, _I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we survive._

Yang turned her head so she could kiss Blake’s wrist. She looked lovingly at Blake as her eyelids fluttered closed and she was asleep again.

Blake watched her sleeping lover until she herself was pulled back under. Her last conscious thought being, _whatever it takes, I will protect you._

It was nine in the morning when the couple finally woke up. Yang sat up straight and stretched her back. She noticed that Blake was still asleep, clinging to her waist. She chuckled and began petting her girlfriend’s hair, gently stroking her cat ears once in a while.

After a couple minutes of Yang’s petting, Blake’s eyes fluttered open. Yang couldn’t help but melt at the expression on Blake’s face. Her eyes were wide open, full of wonder and love. The brawler knew she could trust Blake with her heart based on her expression alone if she didn’t have plenty of experience to go off of.

“Good morning doll, did you sleep well?” Yang asked.

“As well as I could,” Blake responded. She let out a yawn, “do you mind if I get up to get water now? You stopped me earlier and insisted on snuggling.”

“Be my guest.” Yang put the palm of her hand on Blake’s cheek, “I love you.”

Blake smiled and got up, pressing a kiss to Yang’s forehead. “I love you too.” She walked towards their kitchen, her floor length purple nightgown trailing on the floor.

The trailing of her dress reminded Yang of a wedding dress in some way. Even though the comparison was thin, it still sent her mind into picturing Blake in a wedding dress. She guessed that Blake would have a simple dress, but still beautiful nonetheless. The bodice would be covered in blue-white sequins that would trail down like snowflakes throughout the dress. Her veil would be behind her cat ears, showing off her pride as a Faunus. Yang knew that despite the racism, Blake still stood proudly as part of the faunas. So, of course, her wedding fashion must show that. She would wear flats Yang guessed. Despite wearing heels on stage, she always complained about the blisters if she wore them for too long.

_She would be an absolute vision, _Yang thought.

After she got her water, Blake turned to see Yang sporting a dreamy smile on her face. “What are you thinking about?” She put her hand on her hip and gave her a mock glare, “it better not be something perverted.”

Yang’s smile dropped while shook her head, “no, nothing like that.” “I’m just…” the smile came back, “thinking about the future.”

“Oh? And what about it?” Blake said as she walked back over to the bed and sat at Yang’s side, tucking her legs underneath her.

“Something for a down the road discussion,” Yang said, smile dropping slightly. _If there is a down the road._

“Don’t be like that Yang,” Blake placed a hand on her shoulder, “I want to hear what you have to say.”

“But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I promise you, you won’t,” Blake gave her a comforting smile, “just tell me what’s going on in that head of yours,” she playfully poked Yang’s forehead.

“Well,” Yang bit her lip, “I was thinking about you in a wedding dress. How beautiful and confidant you would be walking down the aisle.” She was scared to look at Blake, “I know our lives are always uncertain. We don’t know if we’re going to live to see the next sunrise. But one day, I hope we can get married. That we can enjoy something that normal people can. And who knows, maybe one day…” she trailed off.

“Go on,” Blake said.

“Maybe, one day, we could have kids.” She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, “I know it’s a long shot, but there are plenty of orphans in this city. I also have a friend who runs an orphanage, she might be able to get us some leeway despite us being a female couple.” She sighed, “it’s a serious long shot. And I was afraid to tell you this because I didn’t want to scare you away. I care about you a lot and I don’t want to force anything on you.”

“A boy and a girl,” Blake said softly.

Yang whipped around, her eyes wide, “what?”

Blake placed her hand on Yang’s, “not right now obviously. I don’t want to get married until my late-twenties. But down the line, after we’ve been married for a few years, I would love to adopt kids.” She blushed shyly, “I always imagined having a boy and a girl with you. I saw the way you acted around Salem’s kids, you would be great mother.” She giggled, “and did you really think I wouldn’t see those parenting books you bought at the bookstore?”

Yang groaned and put her face into her hands, “I didn’t think you would see those. I’m so sorry, I was waiting for the right time.” She felt a hand on her cheek and looked up into Blake’s eyes. Those stunning, warm, caring eyes that she was lucky enough see every morning when she woke up.

“Don’t be sorry.” Blake leaned in and kissed her softly, as if she was pouring all her love into a single action. Yang reciprocated her feeling by leaning in and threading her fingers into Blake’s locks. When Blake pulled back she rested her forehead on Yang’s, “you never have to be sorry for wanting a future, and I would overjoyed to share that future with you.”

They sat there together basking in each other’s warmth and light. While they were two separate people and had their own lives outside of one another, they were a pair. These two finding each other felt like destiny to them now and again. The way they were able to know what would help each other in times of distress, when the other just needed to vent or talk about meaningless things.

They loved one another heart and soul.

Eventually, Yang’s stomach interrupted their quiet time. Blake snickered and Yang sighed. “Why don’t I make us some breakfast,” Yang offered.

“Can you make eggs?”

Yang kissed Blake’s forehead, “you read my mind.”

The couple had a nice, quiet breakfast. Afterwards, they discussed their plans for the day while Yang did the dishes.

“Ruby really wanted to take me shopping for some reason,” Blake said.

“Ruby doesn’t need a reason for her actions, she just does it,” Yang replied.

Blake nodded and leaned her chin onto the heel of her palm, “strangely enough she insisted we bring Illia along.” She smiled, “ever since Illia showed up, Ruby has gone to great lengths to make sure she feels welcomed.” This was true. Ever since Illia arrived, Blake had seen the two hanging around each other. Ruby would help the newcomer with her physical therapy in the training room; She’s also seen them hanging out at the bar before opening times, and she even saw Ruby give her a rainbow necklace.

_You know I like giving people stuff Blake. I mean, half of your jewelry box came from me, _Ruby had said to defend herself, _also I thought a rainbow necklace would be funny, since she can change colors and everything._

Blake chuckled at the memory, “maybe her eyes are finally wandering from Weiss.”

Yang gasped, “how could you say that. Ruby is devoted to Weiss.”

“Wellllll,” Blake gave her a mischievous smirk, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a sister thing. I’ve seen your eyes wander too my dear.”

Yang let out an even more dramatic gasp and placed her hand to heart, “how dare you say that. I’m devoted to you!”

“Are you though?” She got met with a face full of water being flicked at her. Yang’s hands were soaked from washing the dishes. Blake put her arms up in defense, laughing hard. Through her laughing, she said, “I yield, I yield. You’re both loyal to your partners.”

Yang relented and put her hands down, as did Blake. Then before she could raise her arms again, Yang gave one last flick of water, causing her to let out a ‘yelp’. “What was that for?” Blake whined.

“Just making sure you were actually sorry.” She grinned as Blake flipped her off. Yang noticed the light was glinting off her pinkie as Blake’s hand was up. “Hey Babe, what’s on your pinkie?”

Blake cocked her head and then looked at her hand, “oh, it’s a ring Weiss got me.” The ring in question was a plain white-gold ring that sat on her right hand. _Of course I’m getting you stuff, _Weiss said when Blake first started getting gifts. Blake had opened her mouth to protest but Weiss raised her hand up to silence her, _no buts. I’m giving you jewelry and that’s that. Besides, you deserve to sparkle when you sing up on stage. You’re a great singer, just like me. _She snickered a little, Weiss’s gifts made up the other half of her jewelry case just like Ruby filling up the other half. _They really are meant for each other, _Blake thought.

She looked up at Yang and saw that she looked thoughtful. “Is something wrong?”

Yang shook her head absentmindedly, “no just thinking about something.”

“What?”

“I’m thinking about what I need when I go to get groceries and some other things after my meeting today,” she said.

“What things?” Blake asked.

Yang shrugged, “just some basics.”

It was a sunny day in the city when Blake, Ruby, and Illia left the hotel. The normal dreariness associated with Remnant’s winter had let up for the afternoon. The girls decided today would be a great day to go out and enjoy the town, ignoring the possibly impending doom that was heading their way tomorrow.

Granted it was still winter, so it was incredibly cold. Ruby grumbled as she wrapped her fuzzy, red, ankle length coat tighter around her. “I wish it was spring,” she complained.

Illia shrugged, “it’s not that bad. I still remember the scouting missions we had to do in the middle of the night.” She shuddered and bundled into her dark green coat further, “threadbare coats and little to eat. It was not fun.”

Ruby gave her puppy-dog eyes and hugged her, “aww, Illia.”

“Gah,” Illia stumbled at the sudden tackle hug, “Ruby I’m walking here.”

“But it’s still so sad that you had to go through that,” Ruby pouted. “If I ever meet Adam again, I’m kicking his butt.”

Blake smiled fondly at the two of then interacting. She was overjoyed that Illia was making connections outside of her. It was a bonus for Ruby because she made a new friend.

“What do you guys want to do first?” Blake asked, wanting to divert Ruby and Illia to a new topic.

“I actually wanted to go clothes shopping, if that’s ok? I don’t really have much except for some borrowed stuff from the other members.”

Ruby grinned, “yeah. And we can pick up a new dress for Blake too!”

“I already have plenty of dresses Ruby, Illia should come first.”

Ruby nodded, “of course we’re putting Illia first. There’s a store on 8th and 40th I want her to see.” She turned to Illia, “it’s a neat shop and all their women’s clothes fit well. Their clothes also have really cool patterns and their vests are top notch.”

Illia chuckled, “then that’s where we go first I guess.” She looked at Blake, “and the idea of dress shopping does sound fun. I like the thought of helping you pick a new dress for your gigs.”

Blake raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then smiled, “if you really want to I would be glad to have your input on a new outfit.”

That comment made Illia beam.

The store that Ruby mentioned on 8th and 40th was a cute little thrift shop. It didn’t seem like much on the outside, blue exterior with a couple of mannequins displaying outfits in the windows. On the inside however, it was much bigger and prettier. There was rows and rows of clothes sorted by color and item. Ruby immediately rushed to the section with red vests and started asking for input from Blake. Illia had wandered off to a random section to browse.

When Ruby was done, she had acquired two new pinstripe vests (one red, one black), along with a knee length black skirt and a red capelet. They were making their way to the register when they Illia again.

“Woah. Got enough there?” Blake quipped.

Illia turned a shade of pink like a water lily. To say she was holding an armful of clothing was an understatement. Blake was surprised she was able to lift the pile. “There were just so many pretty things,” she said meekly.

Blake waved her hand dismissively, “I’m just messing with you Ill’s. I can get all of that for you, don’t worry.”

The chameleon girl’s eyes widened, “are you serious? I couldn’t ask that of you,” she looked down at her haul and then looked up, “there’s so much.”

Blake winked and pulled out a wad of cash, “it pays to be a singer. Besides, it’s my treat.” Illia gave her a huge grin and hurried over to the check-out register.

The trio walked out of the shop laden bags. Ruby and Blake offered to carry some of Illia’s bags, but Illia insisted that she carry most of them. Which impressed the hell out of Ruby because of the sheer amount of strength the girl displayed.

The next business they went to was a little underground shop. Most normal people wouldn’t see it, since to get to it you had to go down a flight of steps and enter through an unmarked door. However, once you enter it you would find a treasure trove of fashion for singers and speakeasy workers.

Blake had found this shop at suggestion of one of the backup dancers, Neon. She said that the little shop had fashion for everyone. And the girl was right. While they had bright dresses for girls like Neon, they also had darker dresses for girls like Blake.

The store was dimly lit when they entered. The walls weren’t painted, showing off the concrete of the basement. There were few mannequins, but the ones there were old and worn. There was a grouchy looking women with blond hair at the front of the store, leaning on the counter and smoking a long cigar while reading a magazine. 

It gave off an ambiance that would intimidate first timers, but for Blake it had the energy like a sunny coffee shop.

“Hey Catherine!” Blake waved cheerfully at the woman, “how has business been.”

The woman let out a puff of smoke, “been pretty well actually. Apparently, some new speakeasies opened up and that means more dancers and singers that need clothes.” She took a long drag of her cigar, “also apparently there’s a new clothing trend too.”

“Is that a problem?”

Catherine shrugged, “I don’t care. Means more money for me.”

Blake nodded, “that’s one way to look at it.”

“By the way, how’s that daughter of mine?” Catherine coughed, “still wearing those shades indoors like a shumck.”

Blake chuckled, “Coco is doing great, and so it Velvet.”

“You mean my girl’s impulse control? Good. Would hate to have something bad happen to her,” she looked at Blake, “and I mean that.”

“I’ll let her know.” Blake walked past her and deeper into the store.

“By the way,” Catherine called out, “there’s new stuff in the back.”

“Thanks Cathy,” Blake called back.

It took her a moment to realize that Illia was sticking _very _close to her. “Are you ok Illia?” Blake asked.

“I’m just not used to this place,” she whispered, “I feel like something is going to jump out at me.”

“MBLERGH IT’S ME,” Ruby shouted as jumped from behind a rack of dresses.

Illia let out a shriek and swung at Ruby, knocking her square in the jaw. When Ruby stumbled, Illia’s eyes widened in horror. She crouched down next to the girl and started rambiling, “Oh my god Ruby, I’m so sorry. I got scared and my first instinct when I’m scared is to swing at the source…”

Ruby started laughing.

“Are you alright?” Blake asked, concerned. She thought Illia’s punch knocked Ruby silly.

Ruby looked up at Illia, her eyes shining. “You have a GREAT right hook.” She stood up, still holding her mouth, “we _have _to spar when you are fully healed.”

“Uhh…” Illia responded, dumbfound. “Sure, alright. But are you ok?”

“I’m feeling great,” Ruby grinned at her. She grabbed Illia’s hand to pull her up, “now come on, we have to find Blake a dress for tonight!”

The trio wandered around the store. They found some contenders but none of them felt right.

Blake rubbed the material of a dress, “no. This wouldn’t feel comfortable to stand in for a long time.”

Illia cocked her head, “how come?”

“The lights heat up the stage and this dress is made mostly out of wool. I would overheat and possibly pass out while singing.”

“Wow,” Illia blinked in surprise, “who knew so much thought went into choosing outfits.”

Blake shrugged, “I’m just picky.” She moved onto the next rack when Ruby came running.

“I know this isn’t a dress, but maybe it would make your outfit cooler?” She held up a pair of, dark blue, diamond studded thigh high boots.

“I don’t know…” Blake said.

“Yes,” Illia said.

“What?”

“Yes, get them. They’re pretty and would make you look good,” Illia said matter-of-factly.

Blake smiled, “alright.”

They continued to look around when a dress on a mannequin caught Blake’s eye. It was dark purple. Furthermore, it was off the shoulder with beautiful, flowy sleeves that reminded her of a kimono, but they were see-through starting at the elbow. The bottom was mid-thigh, which Blake tended to avoid, but this time was bit different.

_Screw it_, she thought as she went to grab the dress.

The trio arrived back at the hotel by 6:00 pm. They had also gone out to lunch, where Blake received a strange note in her pocket simply stating _keep them safe_. She didn’t know where she got it. All she knew was that one minute, her pockets were empty except for cash, and the next minute when she reached in to pay for her part of lunch the note was there.

_God, I live a strange life,_ she thought at the time.

The rest of the trip had been uneventful. They visited a couple of bookstores, a tea shop, and at one point stopped at a bakery for a snack.

The trio separated for their individual duties since the speakeasy opened at seven. Ruby had gone down to set up the bar while Blake went to her dressing room to get ready.

Illia went up to her room to put away all her new clothes and to shower. When she went back downstairs, she ran into someone unexpected.

“Oh, hello Yang.”

“Hey Illia,” she waved at her, “want to sit together for Blake’s performance tonight? No reason to sit alone in the back and drink.”

“S-sure.” She followed after Yang in silence. Illia was a bit confused. Yeah, they had talked and worked on an infiltration plan together, but they never had they interacted in a non-formal setting.

They sat down at a booth near the bar, but it had a wonderful view of the stage. _I’ve only seen her sit here. I wonder if it’s reserved for her. _

Yang ordered two drinks and turned to Illia, “Listen, I’m going to be straight with you. I need to ask you about a plan I have and if Blake would like it. You’re her best and longest friend, you know her better in some ways than I do.”

“Ok. What’s the plan?”

Yang told her the plan and Illia’s eyes watered as she beamed at her. “She’s going to love it,” she whispered.

Blake was humming one of her sets for tonight and was putting on earrings when she heard a knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Yang. I need to talk to you.”

Blake got up and tied the sash of her black robe. When she unlocked the door, she saw Yang standing in front of her with her hands behind her back, clearly nervous. “Is something wrong dear?” Blake asked.

“No, no.” Yang ran a free hand through her hair. “Can I come in?”

“Sure, sure.” She opened the door wider to let Yang in. She turned around to pick up a new earring. Blake turned around as she said, “so what did you want to talk about…” When she saw Yang, she dropped the earring.

Yang was down on one knee with a ring in her hand. “Blake Belladonna,” She took a shaky breath and continued, “you are the stars in my night, the dusk to my dawn. When I first met you, I had no clue what you would mean to me in the future. If someone had told me I had fallen in love, and hard, I would have laughed and called them an idiot.” Tears pricked at her eyes and smiled, “but now, you are the most important person in my life. I loved you even when I didn’t realize it. You saw me at my lowest point, and instead of running away like the rest would, you stood by me and raised me up.”

She held up the ring higher, “we don’t have to get married right away, or anytime soon rather. But still,” Yang gave her biggest smile with tears falling down her face, “Blake Belladonna, will you marry me?”

Blake was stunned. She felt tears running down her face and put her hand to stifle the sounds coming out of her mouth. She muttered something inaudible.

“Blake?” Yang said, concerned.

“Yes,” she whispered, “yes I well marry you Yang Xao Long.”

“Really?” Yang perked up.

“Yes, you silly woman, yes,” she tackled hugged Yang to the ground. They were both laughing as they went down, Blake kissing Yang’s cheeks repeating ‘yes’ over and over again. She looked down to see Yang laughing and smiling up at her with unconditional love in her eyes.

Yang gestured to the ring, “may I?”

“Oh, of course.” Blake helped up Yang as they were both giggling. Yang slipped the ring onto the third finger of Blake’s left hand. It was too beautiful for words in Blake’s mind. The silver band hugged her finger perfectly. The purple diamond was complimented by the small, blue sapphires at its sides. “Yang…” she breathed out, “I love it.”

Yang clasped her hand, “I love you.”

Blake chuckled and whipped her face, “please tell me you have one I can give you.”

Yang nodded enthusiastically. She pulled a second ring out of her pocket and handed it to Blake. The Faunus giggled at her now fiancée’s giddiness. Blake took the ring, one with a yellow diamond and rubies, and slipped it onto the finger that matched Blake’s.

They held hands with their foreheads pressed together, enjoying each other’s company.

“I don’t care if I said it a thousand times, because I will say it a thousand times more,” Yang whispered, “I love you, my beautiful panther.”

“And I love you my sunny yellow dragon,” Blake said, grinning ear to ear.

Yang was practically skipping back to her seat. She sat down and was grinning at the ring on her hand.

“How did it go?” Illia asked tentatively.

Yang smiled wider and showed off her left hand, “guess who’s engaged~d~d.”

Illia squealed and hugged Yang, “I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thank you Illia.” She turned her attention to the stage, “I wonder if she’s going to incorporate this into her set.”

“Excuse me? ‘Incorporate into her set’,” Illia said, confused.

Yang nodded, “The songs she sings for her sets all have emotions and experience behind them. It’s what makes her the best singer in this place.” She winked at Illia, “though I’m bias.” She looked back at the stage, “still. Her songs all have a meaning or a person behind them. We like to play ‘who is she dissing now’ when she gets fired up.”

Before Illia could respond the announcer’s voice ran out, “and now ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to our shining star, the fabulous Blake Belladonna!”

A loud cheer went up as the curtains pulled back to reveal a sight that took Yang’s breath away.

Blake was standing before the crowd in diamond incrusted thigh highs that complemented her legs wonderfully. The sleeves of her dress swayed, giving her the appearance of a Greek goddess. The dress that came to her mid-thigh, (_oh my god I’m going to have a heart attack, _Yang thought) hugged her hips beautifully in Yang’s opinion.

She leaned into the mike and said, “hit it.”

The band started with a cool tune that had Blake swinging her hips to the beat.

_“_ _Would you rescue me? Would you get my back?  
Would you take my call when I start to crack?  
Would you rescue me? Uh  
Would you rescue me?  
Would you rescue me when I'm by myself?  
When I need your love, if I need your help  
Would you rescue me? Uh  
Would you rescue me?”_

Illia leaned over and whispered, “I think this one is about you.”

Yang shook her head and smirked, “no. This one’s for someone else.” She shot a look at Illia when the girl wasn’t looking.

_“__We don't talk much, not anymore  
Broken bottles and slammin' doors  
But we still care about each other  
Say we care about each other  
I know life took us far away  
But I still dream 'bout the good old days  
When we took care of each other  
We were livin' for each other”_

_“But I start to wonder, wonder  
If I'm slipping under, under”_

It was at that point that Yang saw Illia connected the dots. “Oh, this one’s for me,” she whispered softly. She looked to Yang with tears in her eyes, “is she mad at me?”

Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, “far from it. Listen closely to the lyrics.” They both turned back to listen.

“_Yeah, I miss all the times we had  
Can't forget what you can't get back  
And you can't find it in another  
Man, time, it ain't your lover  
I don't care what you thought before  
I'll be there anytime you call  
Don't you ever call another  
No need to call another”_

_“And I start to wonder, wonder  
If I'm slipping under, under”_

_“Would you rescue me? Would you get my back?  
Would you take my call when I start to crack?  
Would you rescue me? Uh  
Would you rescue me? _

_Would you rescue me while I'm by myself?  
When I need your love, if I need your help  
Would you rescue me? Uh  
Would you rescue me? Yeah”_

The song got a loud applause from the group when she finished, granted she always got loud applause but this time was a bit louder.

“Thank you, thank you, everyone.” Blake curtsied, “I know I typically don’t talk before songs, but this one is very special to my heart. I’ve been working hard on it and I hope you all appreciate it, thank you.” She got a smattering of applause and whoops. She took a deep breath as the band started up a sweeter tune, but the tune also had a layer of sadness.

_“If I told you this was only gonna hurt  
If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn  
Would you walk in?  
Would you let me do it first?  
Do it all in the name of love  
Would you let me lead you even when you're blind?  
In the darkness, in the middle of the night  
In the silence, when there's no one by your side  
Would you call in the name of love?”_

_“In the name of loooove, name of looove  
In the name of looooove, name of looove_

_In the name of  
In the name, name  
In the name, name”_

_“_ _If I told you we could bathe in all the lights  
Would you rise up, come and meet me in the sky?  
Would you trust me when you're jumping from the heights?  
Would you fall in the name of love?”_

Blake took a deep breath, _this one if for you Yang._

  
“_When there's madness, when there's poison in your head  
When the sadness leaves you broken in your bed.”_

Blake outstretched her arms, her palms facing upward, her ring gleaming in the spotlight. She looked directly at Yang, pouring as much love as she could in one expression._  
  
_

_“I will hold you in the depths of your despair  
And it's all in the name of love_”

Yang felt tears prick at her prick at her eyes. The last lyric flashed her back to a truly dark time.

***

_She was in her dimly lit office, head in her hands. She had ordered all her men to stay out._

_Yang was surrounded by letters. They were letters to families of fallen members, though they didn’t do much justice in Yang’s mind. Despite it being extremely late, she felt these letters were the least she could do for those mean._

_‘After all I’m the one who killed them,’ she thought glumly. _

_She heard the door open, but didn’t bother to look up. “I thought I gave the order for everyone to stay out.”_

_“I think you could make one exception.” Yang looked up at the new person. It was Blake. She was still wearing her get up from her job, a sleeveless midnight blue dress with fringes that ended a little below the knee. Blake had her hand on her hip and was tapping the nails of her free hand against the door frame._

_“I can’t make any exceptions right now,” Yang said. “I have tons of work to do. Besides, you should be asleep.” She looked back down at her desk, expecting Blake to leave. Instead, a pair of the hands down on her desk._

_She looked up into a pair of angry, golden eyes. “You can’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t be doing. You’re my girlfriend, **not **my boss.”_

_Yang knew she crossed a line. Their relationship was fresh, and some waters still needed to be tested. Yang glared back at her defiantly before sighing, “sorry,” she mumbled, “I shouldn’t have said that.”_

_Blake nodded, “apology accepted.” She straightened up and crossed her arms, “what’s going on with you? You’ve been locked up in this musty office for days.” She wrinkled her nose, “when was the last time you bathed?”_

_The blond shook her head, “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”_

_“Oh, I am sure as hell going to worry. What have you been doing anyway?” Blake’s cat ears twitched in annoyance._

_“If you want to know then read something from that stack,” she gestured to a pile of papers._

_Blake huffed and grabbed a random paper. Her eyes quickly scanned the page, her eyes widening. “This… is a condolence letter,”_

_Yang nodded, “yes,” she said numbly._

_“These are…” she looked at the whole stack of papers, “these are all condolence letters.”_

_Yang nodded again, “for the members who helped me with the operation a week ago.”_

_Blake was flabbergasted, “But didn’t 50 people on our side die?” Yang gripped her pen but didn’t say anything. “You’re seriously writing 50 condolence letters? Why?”_

_Yang stood up and slammed her hands on the desk, “because it’s the only thing I can do Blake!” She ran her fingers into her hair and tugged at the strands, “besides financial compensation there’s nothing I can do for their families. These men left people behind. Tears started to gather in her now red eyes, “although my word doesn’t mean shit to these families cause it’s my fault they died.”_

_“Yang,” Blake’s voice trembled, “it’s not your fault.”_

_She shook her head, “yes, it is. My inexperience lead me leading my men into a slaughter.” Yang collapsed into her chair. Her face was in her hands again, tears flowing freely, shoulders shaking._

_ Her mind became a vortex with this phrase running above all others._

_‘**It’s all my fault.’**_

** _‘It’s all my fault.’_ **

** _‘It’s all my fault.’_ **

_Yang felt pressure against her back. She looked up to see Blake, her eyes full of understanding and kindness, not anger despite her outburst._

_Blake ran her fingers through the blond hair, detangling as she went. “It’s okay to cry,” she said softly, “just let it out. I won’t judge you.”_

_Those words broke the dam that Yang had built up. She let out a wail and buried her face into Blake’s shoulder. She sobbed and sobbed, feeling like there was no end to her emotions._

_And all though it, Blake held her and stroked her hair, whispering comforting words._

_“It’s alright.”_

_“Just let it all out.”_

_“You’re doing nothing wrong.”_

_When Yang finally gained her composure, her voice was hoarse and her eyes were puffy and red. Blake took her chin so she could look at her face, “oh, Yang…”_

_Yang only sniffled and brought Blake’s hand to her cheek. She nuzzled the palm and whispered, “I’m sorry.”_

_“For what?”_

_“For getting extremely emotional. I didn’t want you to see me like this… broken and upset. You shouldn’t have to deal with my emotional bullshit.”_

_Blake stroked her cheek, “think of it this way; I was going to see you like this eventually one way or another.” She put her forehead to Yang’s, “and we’re partners. We’re supposed to be there for each other.”_

_“I know but…” Yang sniffed again._

_Blake put a finger to Yang’s lips, “no ‘buts’. Emotional baggage comes with the territory.” Blake hugged her. “I will be with you in your darkest times. Even if you can’t get out of bed, I will be there for you.”_

_Yang sighed in relief and hugged Blake tight, “thank you.” She buried her face into the Faunus’s hair, “where did you learn to comfort others like that?”_

_“I use the words I wish people said to me in my darkest times.”_

_***_

_“I wanna testify  
Scream in the holy light  
You bring me back to life  
And it's all in the name of love  
I wanna testify  
Scream in the holy light  
You bring me back to life  
And it's all in the name of love” _

Yang smiled at her. _You bring me back to life to my love. _She kissed her ring, _I will be there for you in your darkest times too Blake, just like you were there for me._

Blake continued her song, and got a standing ovation when she finished.

Yang knew the song was directed at her, though others in the speakeasy also found solace within its message.

She could see a platinum haired man with tears in his eyes as he kissed the ring of the black hair man next to him, who was having trouble drying his eyes due to his glasses. Another male couple, this time a tad younger with blond and black hair, moved closer to one another. Both misty eyes, the black haired one leaned his head on the blonde’s shoulder. Yang could also see a female couple, the one with shoulder length teal hair leaned up and kissed the cheek of the pixie cut blond, who blushed and returned the favor.

Her eyes wandered to the first couple, particularly their wedding rings. She looked down at her own engagement ring. The yellow jewel glinting in the dim light not unlike the golden eyes of her beloved up on stage. She started at it, imagining a wedding band instead. The idea of seeing her and Blake with matching wedding rings made her smile.

_One day, _she thought, _one day._

“Wow,” Illia looked around the speakeasy, “a lot of people are… reacting strongly to her last one.”

Yang nodded, “I told you, the emotion she puts behind her songs are raw and real. It’s bound to strike a chord with others besides those close to her.” She chuckled, “you should have seen Weiss at one point. She was blubbering when Blake sang a song she wrote, although she will deny it.”

Illia threw back her head and laugh, “yeah, that sounds like her.” She looked back up at the stage to see the lighting had changed and that Blake was off in the darkness. _That’s weird._

When Blake stepped back into the light, her eyes were steeled and full of fury.

Yang smirked, _whoever she’s singing about is screwed._

The tempo was fast as she snapped along with it.

_“_ _A wise man once said time is money  
So much money did I lose to you honey?  
I find it kinda funny  
You wanna keep this feud running  
But I'm glad I'm your mind  
So keep that cannon fire coming, woah”_

“Is she…?” Illia said in a horrified whisper, “singing about him.”

Yang snorted into her drink and through back the amber liquid, “when she sees him again he is so fucked.”

“How do you know?”

“When Blake sings like this about people like this, consider it her calling card.” She tapped her glass to signal for another drink, “she’s done this before. And trust me when I say it’s brought some hilarious results for us when she acts.” The waitress put down a new drink and Yang thanked her.

“What has she done?”

Yang smiled mischievously, “she once hung a man by his ankles off a telephone pole.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah. She hung a sign next to him that said ‘harasser.’” She sipped her new drink, “thing is he was a someone known in the fashion industry. Ruined his reputation, forced him to retire. And that’s one of the milder things she’s done.”

“Woah.”

Yang sighed dreamily, “my bearcat is such a viper. Beautiful but deadly.” She looked at Illia and smiled, “why don’t we listen to the rest of the song, yeah?”

It was a stunning song. It truly showed the amount of anger she had towards Adam. How he could have left her alone, but now he had made a grave mistake. His downfall would be challenging her, and she would be happy to cause it. The chorus is what sent a chill down Illia’s spine.

_“So this is waaaar  
Isn't that what love is for  
Blood and gore  
Is all I get for being yours  
Two heathens ruled by demons  
That sneak through the trenches in our hearts  
Oh no, no, no, no  
No surrender from the day we part  
I'll be damned if I can't finish what I start”_

Another standing ovation from the crowd when she finished. Yang could feel the fury from the audience, as if they were rooting for this supposed ‘Juanita’ to be defeated by the singer. _You really know how to rile them up, don’t you Blake?”_

The rest of the set was beautiful, but much friendlier. She sang upbeat music that had people swing dancing to it. Her slower songs allowed couple to get up and sway with each other.

When Blake finished her set, everyone stood up and cheered as she bowed. She waved at the crowd as she walked away. She rushed to her dressing room and threw on a coat because she didn’t feel like changing. When she finished taking off all her jewelry, (except her ring of course), she ran back outside and went to find Yang.

Yang was in her usual spot with Illia, who was sipping a margarita. “Hey guys,” she slipped next to Yang and cuddled up closer to her, “what did you think of the songs.”

“They were amazing Blake!” Illia beamed at her. “I really liked the first one.”

Blake smiled, “I was hoping you would like it. It was for you after all.”

Illia smiled, “really?”

“Yes. All my songs are related to certain people in some way.”

Her jaw dropped, “I thought Yang was messing with me.”

Blake laughed, “no. For once she wasn’t messing with anyone.” She nudged Yang’s shoulder, “the second one was for you,” she said shyly.

Yang kissed the top of her head, “I loved it. It was beautiful just like you. Also,” she poked at her shoulder, “what was with that getup. That was entirely new for you.”

Blake buried her face in the collar of her jacket, “did… did you not like it?”

“Are you kidding. I was floored. I was going through a gay panic when you were on stage. Illia can attest.”

“Yes, I can attest to that. Her jaw hit the table and I thought her heart stopped.” She pretended to adjust glasses like she was a doctor, “those are indeed all symptoms of a gay panic.”

The trio laughed and ordered drinks. The night went by splendidly. Yang and Blake danced together and even switched dance partners once in a while, which led to the funny contrast of Ren and Blake calmly dancing with one another while Nora and Yang nearly knocked people over with their tango.

Everything was amazing, so amazing that Yang had to hold up a giggly Blake when they got back to their room. “I think you drank a bit much dear,” Yang said.

“I drank exactly the amount needed,” Blake countered. “Now then,” she hoisted herself onto Yang and wrapped her legs around her waist, “carry me to bed so we can cuddle.”

“Don’t you want to get changed for bed first?” Yang asked, a tad concerned.

Blake gave a very uncharacteristic pout, “fiiiine.” She dropped down and walked to her dresses, “but when I’m done I want hugs!” she demanded.

“Alright, alright, just get ready for bed dear,” Yang insisted.

The pair got ready for bed. After they brushed their teeth, Blake put on a black nightgown while Yang wore pajama pants and a tank top.

The two got under the covers and Blake immediately latched herself onto Yang, “warm.”

“Didn’t you call me a walking furnace this morning?”

Blake nodded, her eyes closed, “and I will stand by that statement.”

Yang chuckled and pet back Blake’s hair, “alright.”

They were quiet for a bit until Blake spoke up, “Yang?”

“Yeah babe?”

Blake opened her eyes and caressed Yang’s cheek, “I want you to know. No matter what happens tomorrow, I will keep you safe. And,” she kissed the ring, “I will always care for you.”

“Blake,” Yang the hand with the engagement ring on Blake’s cheek, “my stars, my moon, my dusk, I will protect you no matter what. I promise that until the end of time.” She leaned in and kissed her, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're engaged!!! And happy!!! Until the next day of course. 
> 
> The next chapter is going to be much shorter because I need to stretch a couple things out and plan. 
> 
> Also, I know the outfit isn't accurate to the 1920's but darn it I really wanted to describe Blake in that outfit because she would look pretty. Also, thigh high boots, you can't go wrong.
> 
> I hope you are all coping with these troubling times. I know I've been reading more. Have an enjoyable day (or night), and I can't wait to see you in the next chapter.
> 
> P.S. I want to see if anyone can guess the characters in the part after she sings in the name of love, put your guess in the comments.
> 
> Songs used  
Would you rescue me-OneRepublic  
In the name of love- Bebe Rexha and Martin Garrix  
War-Zach Callison
> 
> In the name of love is such a sweet song and I suggest you check it out. 
> 
> Okaaay bye!


	21. The day of reckoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang begin the operation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The chapter is done. I was really unsure about this chapter but I did it anyway. I haven't posted two chapters in the same month since I first started this thing. I hope you all enjoy it.

To say the night was quiet would be a lie.

  
The city was laden with chatter and partygoers. Bright men in dapper suits looking for a speakeasy to get wasted in. Girls who wanted to show off their latest dress. Giggly women who were clearly intoxicated were hanging off the arms of men who were equally if not more intoxicated. 

None of this concerned Blake and Yang. They were situated away from it all, perched on a roof next to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. Their outfits were not glitzy or made to draw attention like their fellow women below; no, these outfits were darker than night, made for stealth and crawling in and out of tight places. Yang had braided her hair and pinned it up so it fit under a beanie. She didn’t want her golden hair to become a beacon to the guards.

While many of the pedestrians thought the warehouse was unoccupied, it certainly was not. As Illia told Blake and Yang, the windows were covered by one way glass that only reflected the exterior of the surrounding buildings. 

Ruby and Weiss were preparing to cut the power for their escape while Blake and Yang snuck in through the stairs on the roof. Naturally, Blake and Yang would have to jump to get to said roof.

Yang tightened the laces on her black boots and looked to Blake. “Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Blake looked at the adjoining roof and steeled her gaze, “let’s go.”

The blond nodded and stood up. Both women walked a few paces back before turning around and running towards the roof. They both lept through the air, unseen by pedestrians below. 

They tucked and rolled when they made their landing. Yang had misjudged the distance and ended up skidding a few feet. Blake ran to her side, “are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” She got up and shook the dust out of her hair, “let’s do this.”

The pair made their way to the door. It was solid and old, showing no one had been up here in quite some time.

_ Lucky for us,  _ Blake thought as she pulled her lock picking kit out of her back pouch. Besides her pouch, she had gambol shroud attached to her hip in gun form while Yang had Ember celica in bracelet form on her wrists with her brass knuckles. Ember celica was force projected, so she couldn’t risk accidentally firing a shot and alerting the guards, hence the brass knuckles. But she had them just in case.

Blake picked the lock successfully, and they headed into the depths.

\------

The warehouse was divided into four levels. The third level, the level which Blake and Yang would be entering from, was an observation level with some doors leading off to various storage and conference rooms. This level had a guard rail, and one could look at the lower level from behind this guard rail. The next level was the second floor. It was stacked to the brim with crates and goons, waiting for an intruder they can shoot down. The final level was the basement level. The final level contained even more crates, filled with objects of an illegal nature, along with dorms (if one could even call them that), and more conference rooms for more “private” matters. The building had a basement, but hey didn’t care about that.

Yang and Blake had to get to the first level to plant the bombs. They would plant the bombs in the center of the floor in a discreet room so no one could interfere with them. Once they were placed, Blake would set them to explode in ten minutes. Once they were set, Yang and Blake would hightail it out of there and watch the building collapse on itself from a safe distance. 

One major problem was the sheer amount of guards patrolling the areas. Illia told the pair that Adam had only gotten more paranoid since Blake left. He never leaves the hideout and always has at least twenty goons patrolling each floor. 

The observation floor had less goons than the lower floors because of how the floor was built. All Yang and Blake had to do was make their way past the guards and go down the abandoned fire stairs. This whole plan was easier said than done.

Yang had taken barely three steps when she entered the building before she had to knock out a guard and drag him into an empty conference room. “Well this mission is already going swell,” she hissed under her breath as she dragged the body. Once she situated the man and tied him up with some rope and gagged his mouth, she turned to Blake. “So what about it toots, regular stealth or Russian stealth.”

Blake cocked an eyebrow, “excuse you? Russian stealth?”

“Yeah, Russian stealth” Yang pointed at the guard with her thumb, “no one to call guards if all the guards are dead.”

Blake rolled her eyes, “no. We need to do this as quickly and silently as possible. We don’t want to get caught, and taking out every guard individually will take too much time.”

Yang nodded, “got it.” The blond knew she didn’t want to mess with Blake at a time like this. While Yang was the jokester type, she knew when to keep her mouth shut and listen. This mission was important to Blake. Hell, if they did it right, it would be the end to the organization that had brought nothing but pain to Blake.

They quietly snuck out of the conference room, triple checking that no one had seen them. They resorted to their silent signals once they were in the clear. They walked silently, hunched low so they could dive behind crates that were stacked up along the walls. 

The two didn’t have any problems until they reached the fire door. It was blocked by two guards holding large submachine tommy guns. They hid behind opposite crates, Blake on the left and Yang on the right. Blake growled silently in frustration,  _ how are we going to get past them? _ She signed to Yang. 

Yang thought for a moment and signed back,  _ I have a crazy plan, but it requires a bit of Russian stealth. _

_ I’ll take whatever I can get,  _ Blake responded.

_ We attack on my signal,  _ Yang held up her balled fist. She checked the surroundings one more time before she let go of her hand and pointed towards the goons. 

Blake lept from her hiding spot, gambol shroud in knife form. She rushed them before they could react. The man on the left lifted his gun as she kneed him in the groin. Before the other man could react she slit his throat and he fell the ground. Yang ran from her hiding spot to take out the man Blake kneed. She shoved him to the ground and punched him in the head. The brass knuckles caused a sickening crunch, making it clear she broke through bone. 

They dragged the pair of guards to the nearest storage room, where they took their masks and hid the bodies. Once the bodies were neatly hidden, they made their way down the fire door. 

\----

They didn’t encounter many goons on the way down the stairs. Most of the goons used the main stairwells, but there were a few stragglers. Messenger boys and newbies who wanted to get to the different floors quickly. Since they were wearing the masks and kept their heads low, none of the boys gave them a second look.

_ I’m so glad my plan worked!  _ Yang signed.

_ Don’t get cocky, we still have to plant the bomb and get out of here,  _ Blake responded. 

_ Understood. _

The pair made their way to the bottom of the steps until they reached a metal door. It opened easily and they slipped in, not making a sound. 

\----

The first floor was a bit of a maze. It was lined with doors that led to storage rooms and barracks. One could easily get lost if they weren’t paying attention. Luckily Yang’s informants were able to get them blueprints of the place. After all, the warehouse used to be owned by a car manufacturer, so the layout was easy to obtain.

Blake and Yang kept close to the walls and shadows, doing their best not be seen. They heard voices branching from various rooms, but that didn’t concern them. 

They had a couple close calls with almost being caught, each being guilty of nearly getting caught, but luckily the other was able to pull them back into the shadows behind a crate or large pillar. 

It had taken them twenty minutes from 10:00 pm to get from the top of the building to the bottom floor. Ruby and Wiess agreed to cut the power at 10:30, so they had ten minutes to plant the bomb and gun it. 

They had found their planting point and set up to go to work. It was a storage room that was luckily empty. Yang was standing guard while Blake fixed the wires. 

“There,” she said, “all fin-” She stopped mid sentence. 

“What? Is something wrong,” Yang asked. She saw Blake’s cat ears twitching widely. 

“I hear… crying.”

“Ok?”

Blake suddenly got up and ran out of the room. She ignored Yang’s pleading whispers and went into the room next door. The sight made all the color drain from her face.

It was a room full of girls, preteen to early twenties.There had to be at least 30 of them. They were dressed in rags if you could even call them that. They were huddled together, scared and quivering. The nearest girl saw Blake and flinched away. 

“Blake what are you doing?” Yang hissed, but then she saw the room and her eyes went wide, “oh my god. Is this…”

“Human trafficking,” Blake said numbly, “Adam started doing human trafficking.” The pair stared for a moment before Blake balled her hands into fists, “start the bomb. I’m taking them with me.”

“Are you insane?” Yang said, “we can’t get all of them out at once.” She looked at the watch on her wrist, “we have five minutes to set the bomb and run.” She held Blake’s shoulders and turned Blake towards her, “we can’t save everyone. We would have to blast our way out.”

“Yeah,” she eyed Yang’s bracelets, “we would.”

Yang looked at where she was looking and got what she was trying to say, “you don’t think...?”

“I’m positive, once we set the bomb and the power is cut, we can blast our way out of here.”

“You can’t possibly think that will work?” Yang asked.

“It has to,” Blake said, determined. 

Yang sighed and nodded, “you are so stubborn sometimes.” She kissed her on the forehead, “get the girls, I’ll set the bomb.” The blond ran out of there to the room over.

Blake turned to the group of girls, “it’s alright. We’re here to help.”

“How do we know?” A brave girl spoke up, “you’re wearing one of their masks.”

Blake took off the mask and threw it on the floor, crushing it beneath her foot. “I’m part of a gang called the Golden dragons. We specialize in helping people in your situation. Currently, the power will be cut in about three minutes and a bomb that will destroy part the building will go off in thirteen,” she softened her look, “trust me or not. But you all need to get out of here.”

A twelve year old girl sniffed, “will you get me back to my mama and papa?”

“Yes,” she smiled at the girl, “I will.” She turned to the rest of the group, “well, are you coming or not? Final offer.”

The girls looked at each other and stood up, helping each other. “Anywhere is better than here,” the brave girl said.

Blake nodded, “if it makes any of you feel better, I know what you’ve been through. We can help you heal and get you back to your families.” Just then the power went off. The girls let out a terrified gasp as Yang ran back in.

“We got ten minutes girls, let’s move!” Yang shouted, deploying Ember celica. The girls rounded up into a tight knit group, Yang in the front with Blake helping stragglers in the back.

“Are there any more of you in other rooms?” Blake asked.

“No, we’re all there is,” and older girl said. “Apparently the guy running this is fairly new to this line of work, so he doesn’t have many of us.”

“Why do you think he started in the first place?” another girl asked Blake.

“I don’t know,” Blake lied. But inside she blamed herself. She remembered what Adam said in his letter.  _ Maybe if you did as I said then those benefactors would have stayed instead of pulling out their support. _

_ No,  _ she thought,  _ it;s no my fault. It’s his, all his. _

Yang blasted through the goons gunning for them in the front while Blake took out any at the side and back. Blake was determined to protect these girls and her lover, no matter what. 

They finally reached a wall weak enough that could be blasted through to the outside. “Get down,” was the only warning she gave before breaking through the wall. When the dust settled she yelled, “move! Move! Get ahead of us.” The girls obliged and ran out ahead of them before the two turned to the rest of the goons. They shot at them, backing out of the hole before Blake heard a voice that made her blood boil.

“Stop, all you,” Adam shouted. He stomped to the front of the group, “how dare you!” He shouted, “those girls were the only thing keeping the White Fang afloat. Do you know what you did?”

“Saved a bunch of girls from a life of trauma and ruin,” Blake spat back. “Yeah, I’ll feel  _ real  _ horrible about that.”

“You won’t get away with this,” he growled.

Blake smirked, “oh I think I will.” She knew the bomb was ticking down to its final minutes. “This is goodbye Adam,” she said quietly.

“Oh no it isn't. I’ll get your little friend, just wait and see,” he snarled.

“Try and get me motherfucker,” Yang challenged as she raised her gauntlets. 

He gave her a sickening smile, “oh I think I will.”

Just then a loud BOOM was heard across the floor. Fire started spreading through the floor as Yang yelled, “let’s get out of here.”

The two turned around and hightailed after the girls, expecting to never see Adam again.

\----

Weiss gasped as she ran as fast as she could. Her hair was a wild mess, her clothes stained with dirt and blood.  _ I have to help her, I have to help her,  _ was all she could think. She ran and ran until she tripped and fell on the sidewalk. She was breathing heavily, struggling to get up.

She saw black boots in front of her, and looked up. The person’s face was covered by a white hood. Weiss didn’t know a lick about the person. But all she felt was a calming aura, and something was telling her she could get help from this person.

“Please,” she whimpered. “I have to…” she wheezed, “I have to help Ruby.”

The woman bent down and pulled back her hood. Weiss gasped as she looked into a face that was all so familiar yet so different. The women looked her straight in the eyes, and Weiss felt a chill go down her spine. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun DUUN
> 
> I honestly didn't know how to end this chapter, but something about the cliffhanger felt right, you know?
> 
> Thank you all for sticking to this story, it's close to the climax of the story. I hope you all enjoy of what's to come.
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy. I wish you all the best.


	22. The aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang save the girls and get them to a safe house. However when Weiss and a mysterious stranger walk in, they realize one vital girl is missing.

It was midnight when Blake and Yang finally got the girls back to one of their safe houses. They had safe houses on the edges of their territory that were right next to White Fang territory, but Blake argued that they had to put as much space between the girls and Adam as possible.

“But he can’t possibly be alive,” Yang said. Blake’s mouth tightened into a sharp line and just ordered the girls to keep moving. 

Keeping track of a bunch of girls in normal circumstances would be difficult, during the height of drinking hours was dangerous. Several drunk men had tried to pull girls away from the group, and Blake at one point had to step in and twist a man’s arm backwards when he tried to physically drag one of the girls away. 

When the girls finally made it to a safe house, the girls all but collapsed from exhaustion. One girl fainted, and Yang had to catch her. “We should send a message to Salem. These girls clearly need medical attention,” Yang said.

Blake nodded, “we also need goons to bring supplies and extra clothes. The girls can’t keep walking around like this.”

“I’ll go the owner up front and ask them to relay our requests.” She gingerly handed the girl to Blake and ran towards th front of the room.

The girl began to stir in Blake’s arms. “Where… are we?” She asked.

“We’re in a safe house behind an italian family run business; In turn for protecting their store they provide a safe haven for our men when they’re on the job.” She propped up the girl so that she was supporting her weight. “You need to rest.” She assisted he girl onto a spare cot by a window. “By the way, sorry about the sloppy escape. My name’s Blake, what’s yours?”

“Juniper,” the girl said. Blake could see why. Her hair was the same blue-purple as the berry of her namesake. “Who was the blond girl?” Juniper asked.

“That’s my fiancee, Yang. She’s the leader of the Golden Dragons.”

“Is she going to sell us off?”Juniper asked. Her tone broke Blake’s heart. It was a mixture of resignation and sadness.

Blake brushed some hair out of Juniper’s face, “no sweetheart. We’re going to find your family.”

Juniper raised her eyebrows in surprise, “how?”

“We have a recent hire who can get into tricky places. We’re going to have him go into the local precinct and get files on missing girls. I’m sure your family filed a report.”

Juniper smiled, “I hope so. My sixteenth birthday just passed, I hope my parents are still willing to celebrate it.”

Blake’s heart shattered into a million pieces, not even fixed from her earlier statement, _ she’s only 16? Oh my god. _

She let out a yawn, “is it ok if I sleep?”

“Take all the time you need,” Blake said. Juniper yawned again and rolled over, falling asleep in seconds.  _ _ She started feeling almost having maternal feelings towards the poor girl. She grabbed a blanket from nearby and placed it over the girl.  _ Is this what it feels like to be a mom? Concerned and protective? _

_ Well you’ll fine out sooner rather than later,  _ a cheerful voice interjected in her head. 

She smiled softly and looked down at her engagement ring. The jewels were shinning even in the dim light.  _ Yeah,  _ she thought,  _ one day.  _ Just then she heard a door get slammed open and the girls shriek. She was immediately on the defense, pulling out gambol shroud. Blake ran towards the sound, only to have her eyes widen in confusion. 

“Weiss?” Blake said. Said girl looked like she’d been through the wringer. Her snow white hair was out of its usual ponytail, and was covered in dirt and dark stains. Her clothes looked similar, torn and tattered, covered in what looked like blood stains. She was being supported by a woman in a white cloak who was hiding her face. 

Blake began to panic. “Oh my god Weiss what happened? Who’s blood is that?” she took the girl from the stranger and propped her up on a nearby crate, “can someone grab a first aid kit?” she called out to the girls. She turned her attention back to Weiss, who was slipping in and out of conscious, “come on, stay awake Weiss.” She looked around and realized someone was missing. Her stomach dropped. 

“Weiss, where’s Ruby?”

Weiss coughed, “they got her.” Tears started running down her dirt stained face, “they got her Blake. I’m so sorry.”

“What do you mean  _ they  _ got her?” A new voice interjected. It was Yang with a first aid kit. “Weiss, what happened to my baby sister?”

“They… *cough*... the White Fang. As we were about to cut the power, we got ambushed.” She started crying harder, “we almost escaped, but a goon grabbed my hair. Ruby got in between us and yelled at me to run.” She looked down ashamed, “it’s all my fault. They kidnapped Ruby and it’s all my fault.”

Blake was about to say something when the woman in white walked over and kneeled next to Weiss,“it’s not you fault honey.” She stood up and looked towards Blake, “it’s hers.”

“What?” Yang shouted, outraged. 

Before Blake could respond she was tackled to the ground. She tried to block, but the woman had her arms pinned. “You were supposed to protect them,” the lady roared. “You had one job, you were supposed to protect them.” 

Blake kicked and squirmed, “I don’t know who you are, but let me GO,” she shoved the woman off of her using her legs to kick up and roll to the side. She scrambled up quickly and got in between Yang the woman, whose back was to her. 

“You got some nerve to attack someone who doesn’t even know you,” Yang snarled. “At least turn around so we can see your sorry face!” 

The woman didn’t turn around. Her hood was down so they could see her black tresses, but her face was shielded. 

“Who are you?” Blake asked, “what did you mean that is was my job to protect them? Who are you referring to?”

The woman’s shoulders began to shake like she was laughing. The pair was on defense before Blake’s cat ears twitched. The woman wasn’t laughing, she was crying. She turned around, her bangs hiding her eyes. “You were supposed to protect them,” she pushed her bangs back to reveal a pair of silver eyes, brimming with tears, “you were supposed to protect my daughters.”

\----

Yang’s mind stalled in a dead halt,  _ no, it couldn’t be. She’s dead, there’s no way.  _

But there she was, her surrogate mother, Summer, standing right in front of her. She looked more worn than Yang remembered. She had bags under eyes from many late nights, her clothes were tattered like she’s been fighting everyday. Her cloak, aged to a light gray instead of the pure white it once was. She had worry lines on her forehead and a scar dangerously close to her right eye, like someone had tried to rip it out.

Summer looked directly at Yang, “hi sweetie. Long time no see.” She smiled, but it looked sad, “sorry it took me so long to come back.”

“No,” Yang said, “you’re dead. You’re supposed to be dead.”

Summer raised her eyebrows in surprise, “I know that I don’t look too good, but I didn’t realize I looked that bad.”

Yang shook her head, “how? How did you survive. Dad said you died while tracking another crime boss in a different city.” Tear pricked at her eyes, “why didn’t you come back until now?”

“I’m so sorry my little dragon. I didn’t want to stay away, I honestly didn’t. I had killed the crime boss but his family and goons wanted revenge. I had to stay away to protect you.” She looked at Blake, “it seems like you understand doing whatever it takes to protect your loved ones.”

Blake blushed at the comment. Yang looked at Blake and held her hand, “yeah. I guess I do.”

Summer nodded, “sorry I tackled you Blake, I gave you that note thinking that you would know it was me.”

“You’re the one who slipped the note into my pocket?” Blake exclaimed. “Borrowing the fact you would be a good pick pocket, how in the world would I connect the note and you?”

“Well, I was making a fuss of my arrival.” She sighed and turned to Yang, “do you know how many goons I killed trying to send a message to your uncle.” She pouted, “he knows my MO, he could have at least tried to send a message back.”

“Murder language isn’t really a thing anymore mom.”

“Oh really, it is in other places.” She smiled at Blake, “trust me dear, I’m not usually that sloppy. In other cities no one knew why their goons kept on dying. I only donned the cloak when I got close to the city.”

A shiver ran down Blake’s spine,  _ this is Ruby’s mom? I always wondered where she got her terrifying side from, and now I have the answer, for better or for worse.  _

“Back to the subject at hand, how did Qrow not know it was me?”

Yang shrugged, “he didn’t believe that you could come back. He thought you were dead like the rest of us. Uncle Qrow thought the murders were a copycat and that you would start targeting our guys too.”

Summer waved her hand dismissively, “that man is as paranoid as ever. He really didn’t notice that I was only killing White fang.”

“Wait, why were you targeting only White fang?” Blake asked.

“Because I heard in a nearby city of this Adam Tarus and how he was going on a rampage because of a ceratin girl.” She smirked, “a girl, I had found out, that had fallen for my little dragon. I had to do something. From what I heard he’ll target everyone close to his main target, and that meant my Ruby and Yang.” Her gaze darkened, “and that is one thing I cannot allow. I had to come back.” 

“But what about when Raven left, when I had to take over?” Yang said. “You left me when I most needed your advice.” Her voice rose an octave, “I had to help raise Ruby, I had to run a criminal organization at sixteen.” She shouted, “where were you when I needed you most!”

Yang felt herself being embraced. Summer was stroking her hair like when she was a child, “I’m so sorry I left you. I didn’t want to. Do you know how many times I wished I could have run back to you? Back to my family?” She stepped away and looked Yang in the eyes, “as I said before, I stayed away to protect you. If I came home too soon… I don’t know who would have targeted you.” She put a finger under Yang’s chin, “but I’ve heard about you, how you’ve become a strong leader and that only a fool with a death wish would mess with you. How you protect your businesses and treat them fairly.” She looked warmly at Weiss and Blake, “how you’ve built your own family.” She looked back at Yang, “I’m so proud of you sweetie.”

Tears flowed down Yang’s face as she embraced Summer, “I’ve missed you so much mom.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

  
  


\-----

Salem had finally showed up and started treating the girls. Her daughters were going around and patching up small wounds and handing out clothes while Salem delt with the girls with more serious issues.

The four woman sat in a small group, drinking tea that was provided by the kind woman who owned the restaurant. Blake had patched up Weiss as best she could, but it was suggested that she’d go back home and leave some of the family business up to Winter for a week or two.

Weiss shook her head, “I’m an heiress. I can’t leave my job to someone else because I got a little hurt.”

“A little hurt,” Blake said, incredulous, “you got the crap beaten out of you in an ambush. No one would blame you if you took a few days off.”

She was about to open her mouth before Summer interjected, “Blake is right. No one part of my daughter’s adopted family should push themselves past their breaking point. You need rest, and that’s an order.”

Weiss was about to argue before she closed her mouth, “yes Ms.Rose.” 

“Please, call me Summer.”

The group laughed before they heard Salem’s voice. “Oscar, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the speakeasy working. How did you even find us?”

“I asked dad,” Oscar stated.

“Oh that man,” Slaem huffed, “what’s so important anyway?”

“I have a message for Blake and Yang, are they still here?”

Yang waved at him, “right over here kid!” He sprinted over and doubled over. “Jesus christ Oscar,” Yang said, “did you run all the way here?”

He nodded, still trying to catch his breath. “Here,” he said, handing over an envelope, “it’s from Adam.”

“Adam,” Yang said, alarmed, “I thought we took him down with the building?”

Blake’s cat ears flattened against her head, “apparently not.”  _ I knew it,  _ Blake thought. She took the letter and ripped it open. She scanned the letter quickly before letting out a sigh.

“What is it?” Weiss said, “is it about Ruby?”

Blake nodded, “she’s still alive. She’s being kept in the basement of the building we blew up. Apparently the basement is built to withstand the building’s collapse.”

“What do they want?”

“A trade,” Blake said gravely, “me for Ruby, or they kill all of us one by one, starting with Ruby. We have until midnight tomorrow to get her.”

“What are we waiting for, we can go get her now.” Weiss stood up, but she wobbled and had to be helped down before she fell.

Yang shook her head, “we can’t go barreling in there. We need a plan.”

“And what do you suggest?” Summer asked.

Yang’s eyes flickered red as she smirked, “don’t worry. We’ll be smart about this.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summer is finally here! 
> 
> Thank you for reading. And feedback would be great. It gives me a lot of motivation.


	23. The final showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake confronts Adam over Ruby's kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this was a wild ride to write. I honestly didn't know where this chapter was going, but I hope you all are happy with it.

Blake wrinkled her nose at the smell of burnt rubble. It had been barely twenty-four hours since she and Yang blew the place sky high. But here she was, by herself with only her coat to shield her against the cold, night wind.

_Here goes nothing_, she thought.

\--

** _Two hours earlier._ **

“We can’t meet his demands,” Weiss said to Blake. “If we give you to him, he’ll kill you. And who knows if he’ll even honor the deal. He might have already…” she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“I know that Weiss,” Blake said, “but I’m the only bargaining chip we have. And I know Adam, he’s not the one to kill hostages until after the deal, and he has a vendetta against Ruby after she humiliated him in the bar if I go by my experience. He’ll want her to make her suffer.” She turned to Yang, “in all honesty I think he’s after you.”

“Well no matter who’s he’s after, we need a plan to protect both of my daughters,” Summer said.

Yang nodded, “don’t worry. As I said, I have a plan.”

“And what would that plan be?” Weiss inquired.

Yang smirked, “don’t worry Ice princess, it won’t take much.”

\--

** _Present time_ **

** **

Blake sighed and steeled herself for the worst. She walked towards a man sitting on a piece of rubble who was smoking a cigarette. He was dressed in a heavy trench coat with a fedora hat pulled over his face.

“Are you who I’m supposed to talk to?” Blake asked.

He blew cigarette smoke into her face, “I’m not in the mood for a quickie. Get lost girlie.” He waved his hand dismissively and took another drag. Blake stood there, nonplused at his response. He gave her another look and exhaled. “Didn’t I tell you I don’t want what you’re selling.”

She pulled out the ransom letter from her pocket and handed it to the man. “I’m here to see Adam. He wanted to meet me here.” The man glared at her and ripped the letter from her hand. He opened it and scanned it.

When he finished, he put his cigarette out on the letter, burning it in the process. “You have a death wish Belladonna.” He shook his head sadly, “I was here before you even joined, and I was here when you left. I was sad to have learned you had left.” He sighed and stood up, “a lot of people looked up to you. When you left, it affected more than just Adam.”

Blake nodded, “I know.”

He raised an eyebrow, “do you now?”

“Yes. If it makes you feel better, consider this my penance.”

He shook his head again, “you don’t owe nothing to nobody. Just enjoy the life you have left,” he pulled out another cigarette and lit it, “well, whatever life you have left.” He jerked his head, “follow me.” He walked towards a piece on unmarked rubble and pulled it back to reveal a set of stairs heading down. “Go down all the way, he’s waiting for you.” He patted her shoulder, “it was nice knowing you kid.” He turned on his heel and walked into the night.

Blake took a minute to process the interaction, _just how much did I contribute to this gang? Should I have never left? _She shook her head, _no, not the time to look on the past. I need to focus on the monster in front of me. _She took one last breath and headed down the stairs.

\--

It was a long way down. The air was stale and dusty. She felt like half the air she was inhaling was dust and dead bug parts. Her ears picked up on the scuttling and chittering of rats, and her nose wrinkled at the faint smell of sewage and corpses. She had to start breathing through her mouth so she wouldn’t inhale the dank odder.

When she got down the stairs, the surroundings were just as dingy as the way down. There was crates everywhere, some had mold growing on the wood, others looked like they had water damage. Blake could only guess the condition of the contents. She moved around the crates with some difficulty until she got to the center of the room. There, she felt her stomach drop.

Ruby was in a chair, blindfolded and tied up. She had dry blood down one side of her mouth, only a few hours old. She was covered in bruises and the sleeves of her shirt were torn off, as if to showcase the pain she had been in. And next to her was Adam, his back turned from Blake as he talked to two goons.

“I’m here,” Blake called out. She raised her arms slightly in a mocking gesture, “and as you can see, I’m alone.”

“Well, well, well,” Adam said, “I didn’t think a coward like you would show up.”

“But I did.” She stood up straighter, trying to give the impression that she wasn’t intimidated, that she refused to be scared of him. _Never again. _“I upheld my half of the bargain, now you uphold yours.”

Adam chuckled, “and why would I do that?”

“Adam,” Blake snarled, “we had a deal.” Her ear twitched in annoyance.

“I was just thinking about it, and you know,” he leaned over and grabbed Ruby’s face, “I kind of want to keep her.” Ruby snarled at him and bit at his hand. “See, she’s like a harmless puppy. Once I instilled a little ‘training’ in her, she’ll make a good guard dog. Better than Iilia was.”

“I’ll never work for you,” Ruby growled and then she spat on his face.

Adam frowned, “or maybe I’ll just kill her. Really make that play toy of yours suffer. You know, the blond one? Imagine her face when I take out both her little twerp of a sister and her,” he gnashed his teeth, “her _lover.”_ He got up away from Ruby, “seriously Blake, how could you leave what we had for some _woman. _She’s not even that pretty.” He turned to his men, “guards, shoot the red head.”

“No!” Blake moved forward, but Adam pointed his gun at her.

“Not so fast,” he smirked, “I want you to watch.” He turned his head, “do it.” He turned back to Blake expecting panic or fear, but she the picture of calm. “Why aren’t you upset? Shouldn’t you be begging on your knees for mercy? I’m about to kill your friend.” She continued to look calm, bored even. Her arms were crossed and she had shifted her weight to one foot, completely relaxed.

“Oh, honey, first of all, I don’t ‘beg’, that’s what I make other people do. Second of all, noticed a certain sound is missing?”

“What are you…?” Then the realization hit him, and so did a punch to the face.

“That’s for ruining my favorite shirt you bastard!” She tried to land another hit on him, but one of the goons held her back.

“Ruby dear, it’s not your fight,” the guard said, “we need to get out of here.”

Ruby struggled, “get your filthy paws off me! I don’t care who you are, but I’ll beat you if you don’t let me beat him!”

“You’ll care soon enough little sis,” the other guard said.

Her eyes went wide, “Yang? Then who?” She turned to the other guard, “who are you.”

The guard took off her mask to reveal her silver eyes and a face similar to Ruby’s, “hi honey.”

“Mom?!” Ruby gasped, “how…?”

“Not the time, we need to go, now.” She hoisted Ruby over her shoulder and started running for the exit, “Yang, Blake, let’s go.” Blake and Yang nodded and ran after her, leaving Adam behind.

What they didn’t know is that the man they left behind was still conscious, and his hunger for blood increased tenfold.

“I will get you Blake, even if it kills me. You’re mine. Now, and forever.”

\--

The group ran back to the safe house as fast as they could, Ruby limping along. “Mom? I don’t feel good.”

“That’s just your adrenaline crashing sweetie. Stay awake as long as you can, please, for me.”

Ruby nodded, “I’ll try my best.”

They way back had a simple route, but they didn’t want to risk anyone following, so they had to use twisting streets and back alleys. Once they finally got back to the safe house, Ruby was near unconscious and tripping over her own feet. Summer was supporting almost all of her weight. Yang kicked open the door, startling the girls inside.

Salem sighed, “there is a very viable door handle, you know. No need to kick things Yang.”

“It was an emergency and I didn’t have time for niceties, you need to treat my sister _now_.” She brought Ruby forward, still leaning on Summer’s shoulder. Salem gasped and ushered them to a free cot.

“Girls, could you please get me my kit, it’s an emergency. And get your father too, I need all the help I can get.” Her daughters moved around quickly, June running to the front of the store to get Ozpin. The others gathered any remaining supplies from the previous girls.

The girls Blake and Yang rescued were moved to a new safe house deep in Dragon territory, so the group had much more privacy. Weiss still stuck around for news of Ruby, and to help Salem with cleaning up. She and Summer hovered over Ruby’s body until Ozpin showed up and shooed them back. “We need space,” he said.

Blake and Yang held each other close as they watched the couple work. Yang had a dark look on her face, hunched over with her mouth against her fists. Weiss and Summer nearby anxiously bouncing their legs. It took about an hour, but Salem finally stood up and walked over to the group.

“She’ll live, but she’ll two months to recover and some physical therapy. Her left leg was broken in three places and she has two fractured ribs. They beat her pretty badly, but she’ll be fine after serious treatment.”

Blake nodded, “thank you so much for your help, right Yang?” Yang simply grunted and went back to brooding.

“It’s fine Blake, I know she’s grateful. She’s just thinking something over, I can tell.”

Blake rubbed her back and mumbled, “she’s not the only one.”

“Can we see her?” Weiss asked hopefully.

“She’s not completely conscious, it may take her a bit to regain her full senses, but yes, you can see her.” Weiss and Summer ran up to her cot, pulling up chairs on either side of her. Blake and Yang held back, watching over them.

“Yang, we need to talk,” Blake said. “I’ve been thinking it over, and…” she took a deep breath, “we need to kill Adam. He won’t stop coming after us until we’re dead. We need to do something about him as soon as possible.” Rain started pattering against the windows, “please answer me?”

Yang sighed, “I know, but that pitting him against you, and I don’t want you to face him ever again.” 

“But I have to and you know it.” She stood up and walked away. Blake went to the place Gambol shroud was stored and walked back, “we have the capabilities, we have the weapons, all we need is a time and place.”

**knock, knock**

The whole group held their breath. “Mom, Weiss, get Ruby out of here,” Yang hissed. The pair nodded and hoisted up the cot as fast as they could and headed towards the front of the restaurant where they could hide themselves and protect Ruby.

Yang deployed Ember celiac, keeping her hands steady. Blake had Gambol shroud in her hand in gun form. She slowly approached the door when it was suddenly blast open. 

Adam stood there with a sword, breathing heavily, a crazed look in his eyes. “Found you,” he hissed.

Blake scrambled up, Gambol shroud in hand. She started shooting at him, “Yang. I think this is our time and place.”

“Got it sweetheart,” she shook out the shells her gauntlets, and reloaded. They launched themselves at him and the battle begun.

He shot at them as they ducked for cover behind the boxes. “Come and face me you cowards!” He shouted. He started shooting at their cover, and Blake stood up and started shooting back.

“I’m limited on bullets,” she said to Yang when she ducked back down again.

“Don’t worry, so is he,” Yang replied, “we have to wait him at and then… _yip_,” a sword sliced right next to Yang head. “Jesus fuck, why does he have a sword.” She scrambled away and started blasting at him, but he used the sword to deflect the bullets. “Oh, come one!”

“It’s a specially made sword Yang, the blade can’t be broken by anything!”

“You couldn’t have told me this earlier?”

“It never came up earlier,” Blake said, exasperated. She switched Gambol shroud to sword mode so she could save bullets and ran at Adam, roaring. She swung the blade down, but he held her back. Yang shot several bullets into him, flying him back.

The couple stood up, breathing heavily. “Is he dead,” Yang asked. Just then he stood up and started charging back at them. “My God, this guy is like a cockroach.” She started blasting at him as he dodged them.

Blake ran at him again and their swords clashed. Every blow knocked them away from each other and they charged back. “Why don’t you just leave us alone,” Blake shouted.

“Because you’re mine Blake! You’re mine, mine, mine,” Adam said, stomping his foot like a child. Blake parried his thrust, a metal cling resounded around the room. Yang shot another bullet but missed by a breath’s hair. He looked at her and then at Blake, “what do you even see in her?”

“I see kindness, I see a good, fair leader to her people. I see someone who, no matter what, will always love me as I am.” She leaned close to his face, “I see everything you could never be,” she hissed. Blake pulled back her sword and stabbed him straight in the stomach.

Adam’s eyes went wide as he coughed blood. “No,” he wheezed. His sword clattered to the ground as his grip went limp. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to have changed. You haven’t changed, you can’t have.”

Blake twisted the sword deeper into his stomach as he coughed more blood. “Well, surprise. I changed in more ways than one. The scared little girl is no more.” She pulled out the sword high kicked him in his wound, knocking him over, “I’m stronger than you now Adam.”

He coughed and glared at her, “you’ll never be stronger than me. You’ll always be that scared, little girl I found in that shithole.” He laughed weakly, “you’ll never change.”

“Maybe in your eyes, but I know who I am.” She leaned down on one knee, “you could have changed too.”

He tried to laugh, but he just gargled more blood, “You… are so… stupid.”

“Maybe, but I’m not the one bleeding out on the floor.” She stood up, “goodbye Adam.”

Adam wheezed. He was trying to say something, but the words would be lost forever as he drew his last breath. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp.

“It’s over,” Blake said.

Yang walked over to her and hugged her, “are you alright?”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded, “yeah, I’m fine.” She pulled back and gave Yang a deep kiss. “I love you, so much. I’ll never leave you, ever.”

“I know,” she put their foreheads together, “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only the epilogue left and then this is all done. I wasn't sure how to kill Adam, but I hope his death makes you all happy. Thank you all for sticking with this story for almost a year. I'm sorry the updates are slow, I'll try to work on the next chapter as soon as I can.


	24. To new beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang deal with the aftermath of the death of Adam, along with the rest of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been doing the story for so long, I had a hard time finishing it. I knew I had to, because I can't leave it unfinished. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Blake curled against Yang in the pouring rain, her girlfriend acting as a body heater. Her coat had gotten splattered with blood from the unfortunate _incident, _so she had to ditch it in the restaurant along with the body. The couple was waiting for the cleanup crew after talking to the owners. The Golden Dragons would pay for repairs to the back of the shop and offer free protection for a year as thanks for housing them in their desperate time.

The Faunus curled closer to her girlfriend, letting body language do the talking and show her gratitude. They hadn’t spoken to each other since they left the body to rot in the storage room. How could they? They had no words for each other. Something that was haunting Blake for years and had tortured Yang’s mind for months is now… gone. Their silence was more in disbelief than anything else, amazed that their problem was no more.

That Adam, leader of the White Fang, the one that hurt Blake the most, was dead.

“Yang…?” Blake said.

“Yeah?”

A pause, “never mind. It’s nothing.”

“Blake…” Yang was cut off by a car pulling up. It was Tai, looking both scared and relived.

“Girls, you’re alright!” He rushed over and embraced them both, kissing Yang on the cheek. “Oh thank goodness you’re alright. I can’t believe you had to go through that. But you’re ok now,” he stepped back and locked his hands on their shoulders, “you’re ok now, right?”

Yang laughed, “yes Dad, we’re fine.” She looked over at Blake, “well, mostly fine.” Blake noticed her gaze and looked away.

“As long as you two are alright,” Tai said, relived. “Come on, let’s get you back home.”

They sat through the entire car ride in silence, Blake staring out the window at the dreary weather and the people trying to escape it with umbrellas and ducking into small shops. Yang placed a hand on her thigh, but she shifted away so Yang’s hand dropped. 

The same pattern continued with their walk to the elevator and the way to their room. When they got there, Blake let Yang go first and let the door slam.

Yang turned around, “alright, what is it? You’ve been sullen since the car ride. What is up?” She walked closer and put her hand on her shoulder, “you can talk to me you know?”

Blake shrugged off her hand, “I don’t know what you’re taking about. I’m fine.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.” Yang’s face went from annoyed to concerned, “come on Blake. Something is eating at you so what is it, spit it out.”

“Oh, I don’t know Yang, maybe murdering a man can take a toll on the human psyche,” Blake snapped.

“We’ve had people killed before, I’ve seen you beat someone to near death, how is this any different,” Yang asked, confusion in her voice.

“Because… because…” Blake ran her hand angrily, “I don’t know why this is different, it just is.” She stomped away towards their personal mini bar, pouring herself a scotch.

“Babe, I can’t read your mind. You have to tell me what’s going on.” Yang pleaded with her, “you know I’ll understand whatever you’re going through. And if not, I’ll stand by your side and listen to you please.” She walked over and placed a hand carefully on her shoulder. “Please Blake.”

Blake let out a heavy sigh and sagged, as if all the air had out of her. “I don’t know what’s wrong though. He’s dead, I should be happy. The monster that terrorized me is gone, and yet…”

“Did you feel like you did the wrong thing? Killing him?”

“I…” her voice trailed off. It was almost as if she was afraid of the answer. Scratch that, she was. “I…”

“You regret it, don’t you? You regret killing Adam.”

“No… yes,” she slammed her fist on the table, “he was a monster. I should be glad he’s dead but,” tears began to fall, “a small part of me wishes that it could have ended differently. Peacefully.”

Yang was incredulous, “Peacefully? You think that bastard would have went down without a fight?”

“No!” Blake yelled. Her voice rose and octave, “I wanted to end it quietly. No fan fair, no over the top plan. I wanted to cut that part of my past out and keep it in the dark forever.” She slammed her glass, “but no, he just had to go and make a big deal out of it. He couldn’t have…”

“Couldn’t have what?” Yang asked, “couldn’t have what, Blake?”

Blake sobbed, “he couldn’t have left me alone and let me go.” Once she started sobbing, she couldn’t stop.

Yang stood there in silence before it dawned on her, “You still cared about him, didn’t you? You felt like he could change, like you could still have him in your life.” Blake sobbed harder, and that was all the confirmation Yang needed. She brought her into a tight hug and let her cry into her shoulder, “you don’t need to hold back. I’m not mad, or even upset,” she took Blake’s face into her hands, “just tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Part of me, a small part of me, thought he could change, thought he could still change.” She hiccupped, “but I knew it wasn’t true, but there was still that traitorous voice in my brain, saying that if I stayed longer, that if I worked harder, he would have become a better person.”

“And if he did change, would you have gone back?” Yang asked.

“No,” Blake gasped, “No, I would never go back to him!”

“Than what’s the problem?”

Blake wiped away her tears, “I just feel like… it was such a violent way to end my connection to my past. And what of the White Fang, what are they going to do? We just killed their leader.”

Yang rubbed her hands through Blake’s hair, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to there, but for now,” she gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, “we have each other. And no matter what, I will love and care for you.” She kissed the engagement ring, “that’s what I promised.”

Blake smiled through her tears and kissed her, “thank you.”

\---

The next few months were hectic. After the death of Adam, gangs started swarming for the now open territory. Thing is that the White fang was still around, despite not having a concrete leader. They had a council of leaders, but it wasn’t strong enough to organize the now fragmented gang. There was also the issue of retribution. After all, Blake did kill their leader, and the White fang council wanted compensation (luckily not in the form of Blake’s life.)

This is how they wound up where they were, at a secondary speakeasy with the current leaders of the White fang.

The council consisted of five men. Two of them were fennec fox brothers, who gave Blake a bad feeling. Ruby was at Yang’s left side while Blake was at her right. Team CFVY and JNPR had made themselves bodyguards and surrounded the table in case anyone tried anything funny.

Luckily for Blake, one of the men was the guy she met guarding the entrance. He seemed to have his head on the straightest out of all them, which wasn’t saying much.

“So, you have a proposition for me?” Yang said, leaning forward.

“Yes,” one of the fennec brothers said. “All were asking for is your protection.”

“Protection?” Yang said

The other brother nodded, “We need time to bring together the fragments of the White fang. If you so could generously give us the funds and man power that would be great.”

Blake cocked her head, “and what would we get in return?”

“We would you pay you back in due time,” the man who guarded the entrance said. “Harold, by the way.”

“Pleasure,” Yang said flatly. “And to your request, I’m going to have to decline. We don’t run this business on promises and ‘in due times.’ We require payment that we can see.”

One of the fennec’s brother’s ears twitched, “excuse me.”

“We need upfront payment or else we can’t make the deal,” Yang explained.

The other brother chuckled, “well, that will be a bit hard…”

“I don’t care,” Yang said, “ether you have the money or we’re done here.”

“I don’t think you understand the situation little girl,” a man with bear ears said. “You killed our leader, you owe us.”

Yang clasped her hands together and leaned forward, “_we _don’t owe _you_ anything. Your leader tried to kill us.” She sighed, “let me put it to you this way. Your leader got you into this mess, and it’s not our job to pick up the pieces.” She got up, “we’re done here.”

The man with bear ears stood up and growled, “no we’re not.” He pulled out his gun, “you’re giving us the money, or else.”

Yang put her hands on her hips, “or else what?” As the man pulled the trigger, a shot ran out and he dropped onto the table, blood pooling from his chest. Nora’s gun smoked from the barrel. “Cutting it a bit close Nora?” Yang quipped.

Nora shrugged, “let me have my fun Yang.” She ginned maniacally at the rest of the group, “anyone else?”

The rest of the group raised their hands in surrender and shook their heads. She tilted her head and sighed, “aww, no fun.”

“Better that way Nora,” Ren said. She gave him a look and put away her gun.

“Anyway,” Yang said, drawing attention back to herself. “I don’t think we need to prolong this any longer. Come one guys.”

“Wait!” Harold called out, “please help us. Our people have nowhere to go. We’ll be kidnapped and sold off, absorbed as grunts for other gangs.” He got up, “please. You’re our only hope.”

Yang threw back her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Son of a-.”

Blake places a hand on her shoulder and looked at the man, “look we want to help, we honestly do, but do you see our position? How it would look if we just went around randomly helping gangs, especially ones that attacked us. We would look weak.” She held out her hand, “we will send messages to the others to leave you alone, but that’s it. Once we do that it’s out of our control.”

Harold nodded, “I understand. Thank you for all your help.” He smiled, “by the way. Congratulations on your engagement.”

\--

_One year later_

Yang fussed with her hair in the mirror. It was up in a ponytail, though it didn’t take away any of its usual untamable look. 

“Does it look okay?” She asked adjusting the bow in her hair that went over the hair tie.

“Oh my God Yang,” Ruby said, “You look beautiful.”

“What if she doesn’t like it?”

“Yaaaang,” Ruby got up and went over to her sister. She spun Yang around and started adjusting her yellow tie, a tie that matched Blake’s eyes perfectly. “She’s going to love it because she _loves _you. Hell, she agreed to marry you for God’s sake.” She gave Yang a light punch on the shoulder that made them both giggle, “so stop worrying about it.”

“Yeah, I should.” She paused a moment, “but…” before she could say anything, Taiyang poked his head into the room.

He grinned widely, “you look so beautiful.”

Ruby waved her arms, “see. I told you.” She brought her dad into the room and gestured to Yang, “she’s been fretting over everything for the past half hour, Dad. It’s making me crazy.”

Taiyang chuckled and ruffled Ruby’s hair, “I completely understand where she’s coming from. You should have seen me before I married your mother. Your uncle Qrow was about to strangle me when I couldn’t stop pacing.” He looked at Yang, “you just want everything to be perfect, right?”

Yang nodded. “Well don’t worry,” he said. “I checked over in Blake’s room and everything is going smoothly. You’re going to have the best wedding ever.” He walked over to Yang and kissed her on the forehead, “I’m proud of you dear.”

Yang’s eyes watered as she hugged him, “thank you. You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

Just then, Weiss poked her head in. “We need you at the alter Yang,” she said.

“Well,” Yang rubbed her tears away, “here goes nothing.”

\--

Yang was wrong about many things. But Yang was right on one thing, Blake was absolutely stunning walking down the aisle.

Her dress was floor length with a train and clung to her hips nicely. Her veil was placed behind her cat ears so one could see the array of gold studs neatly put in. The sleeves of her dress were a shear light lilac that came down to her elbows. _Weiss did an amazing job_, Yang thought, looking at Blake’s makeup. She was mostly natural, except for the cat eye-eyeliner and the purple eyeshadow that made her eyes pop.

When Blake got to the alter, she giggled quietly at Yang’s expression. “Close your mouth dear, everyone is starting.”

“I can’t help it, you look beautiful,” Yang shot back.

Blake eyed her up and down, “you don’t look too bad yourself sweetheart.”

It was Yang’s turn to muffle a giggle when she turned back to the priest.

When they got to the vows and exchanging of the rings, Blake went first.

“Yang Xao Long. No, I am not using your full name because you’re in trouble.” A laugh went through the crowd. “You are the most amazing person in my life. You helped me through the darkest point in my life. When you found me, I was nothing more than a stray cat hoping for some food and shelter. I know our relationship at first was rocky, what relationship with a crime boss isn’t?” A pause, “But over time, I learned that it was possible to open up to someone, to be able to trust them.” She gripped Yang’s left hand, “you showed me that I could heal from trauma, instead of letting it define me. You’ve been so patient, so caring. I don’t know what I would do without you.” She slipped the ring onto Yang’s finger, “with this ring. I pledge myself to you, to helping you, to holding you through sickness and through health.” She looked up into Yang’s eyes and started to tear up, “you are the fire that keeps me warm in the worst of winter days. Yang Xao Long, I love you.”

Silence filled the church except for a couple sniffles. Yang was opened mouthed and gaping. “Wow,” she said, “I have absolutely no idea how to top that.” She cleared her throat, “well, here goes nothing.”

Yang took a deep breath, “Blake Belladona. When I saw you in that alley way, I had no idea the amount of joy and comfort that you would bring me. When you found me, I was new to this whole business. I had no idea how to order goons around or even how to strategize properly. My whole thing was shoot first, ask questions later.” Another laugh rippled through the crowd. “But with you, I learned how to slow down, to actually think my way through problems. You saved my life in more ways than you could ever know.” Yang took the ring and slipped it onto Blake’s finger. “You are the moon and the stars in my night sky, and the gentle light that guides my way.” Tears shimmered in her eyes, “Blake Belladona, I love you to the sun and back.”

Both girls giggled and held each-others hands. The priest cleared his throat, “now then. Do you, Blake Belladona, take Yang Xao Long’s hand in marriage, for richer or poorer, through sickness and in health?”

Blake smiled brightly, “I do.”

“And do you, Yang Xao Long, take Blake’s Belladona’s hand in marriage, for richer or poorer, through sickness and in health.”

Yang grinned ear to ear, “I do.”

“By the power vested in me, you are pronounced spouses, you may kiss the bride-,” before the priest could finish, Yang took Blake and dipped her, bringing her into a deep kiss. Everyone in the church cheered. When Yang brought Blake back up, she was beaming from ear to ear. They looked out onto the cheering crowd.

It was a small, intimate event, but it still sounded like the whole church was filled. Team JNPR and CFVY were there, along with Sun and Illia, who were both crying their eyes out. Weiss’s eyes were tearing up as she politely clapped. Ruby was wolf whistling along with Penny, both their fathers trying to calm them down. Others were there, like Salem, Ozpin and their kids. Summer stood next to Taiyang, beaming at her daughter and new daughter-in-law. These people were their family, and Yang would be forever grateful that their family supported them.

\---

_Two months later_

Yang drove their Model T car up the unpaved path, her hand on Blake’s thigh. Blake held her hand, rubbing her thumb across Yang’s knuckles. They drove in silence, not feeling the need to say anything.

They pulled into the parking lot next to their destination. Yang turned off the car and they stayed silent for a few more moments before she asked, “are you sure you want to do this?”

Blake nodded, “positive.” She unlocked her side of the car and got out.

Yang’s left hand was holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums and lavenders while her right hand held Blake’s hand tightly as they walked up the cemetery path.

Blake guided her through the rows of gravestones until they made it to a mausoleum. Then, the made a right into a certain row and walked a little bit. They came upon a set of gravestones that read,

** _Kali Belladona Ghira Belladona _ **

** _January 17th, 1869- July 5th 1910 August 1st, 1864- July 5th 1910_ **

** _Loving Mother and Wife Loving Father and Husband_ **

** **

Yang kneeled down and put the bouquet between the gravestones. “Hey Mr. and Mrs. Belladona, sorry I didn’t ask permission before asking for her hand. If I could have reached you earlier I totally would have.” She heard a snort from Blake and looked up at her, smiling, before continuing. “Your daughter is the most amazing and important person in the world to me. You did a great job raising her.” She put her hands on the gravestones, “I wish I could have met you guys. Blake’s told me all about you. You seem like amazing people.” She stood up and brushed her hands on her pants, “but that’s enough from your daughter-in-law, I think you guys would care more about Blake.” She turned to Blake, “are you going to be alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Blake kneeled in front of the gravestones with a teary smile. “Hey Mom and Dad, sorry it’s been so long. We’re on our honeymoon and Yang thought it would be a good idea to visit the island I grew up on.” She wiped at her eyes. Blake felt Yang’s hand on her shoulder, and grabbed onto it before letting out a long sigh. “When I met Yang, it was raining. It reminded me of what you said mom, about how storms are a new beginning. They truly are, _she _truly is. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.” She grinned, “we’re going to be adopting kids. Don’t worry, we’ll visit you as a family. Even better, I’m seeing someone about my issues. I’m not letting my past control me anymore.” She stood up, “I miss you, mama, dad, so, so much. We’ll visit as much as possible. But until then, I love you.”

Yang took Blake’s hand, “how are you feeling?”

Blake smiled at her, “they’re happy for me. I can feel it. They’re not mad for not visiting more. They knew I needed my time.” She took Yang’s face in her hands, “and they’re more than pleased that I found you.”

“How do you know all of this?”

Blake shrugged, “I can just feel it. Come on, let’s go back to the hotel.”

As they walked away, Blake felt that she could see two figures in the corner of her eye, smiling at her.

\--

_Five years later._

“Aurelia, Michael, don’t run too far away!” Blake called out as she ran after the two giggling children. Blake hiked up her dress and ran down the grassy hill. Yang was right behind her with a picnic basket, running after their children.

“Doll, take this,” she handed the basket to Blake and bolted. “Raaaaagh,” she roared out as she tackled the two children. The kids squealed and struggled as they all roared down the hill. Blake rolled her eyes and walked calmly down the hill towards her family.

Yang had pinned them under her body and they squirmed under her.

“Mom,” Michael, a boy with blond hair cried, “let us go.”

“Yeah, Mama, let us go!” Aurelia tried to push herself up, her little white tiger tail swishing about.

Yang let out a happy sigh and went limp, “I don’t think so. I’m pretty comfy here.” She grinned wolfishly as the kids continued to squirm and tried to push her off.

“Yang dear, I think you’re actually crushing them,” Blake said nonchalantly as she set up the blanket and food.

“You think so?” Yang raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, so could you please let them up, or else you’re not getting food,” Blake said.

“Fine,” Yang pushed herself up and the children scrambled from away, breathing heavily.

“You’re heavy Mama,” Aurelia whined.

Yang let out a wounded gasp and clutched her chest. She turned to Blake, “am I really getting that heavy?”

“You could afford to do some sit-ups,” Blake said. When she saw the hurt look on Yang’s face, her expression softened, “I’m kidding and you know it.”

“I do know, but it still hurts,” Yang said.

“Well then you big baby, you don’t have to eat your portion of lunch.” Blake smiled at her, “but I know you won’t do that.”

“Hell no I won’t, your lunches are delicious.” Yang scrambled onto the blanket with the kids and Blake distributed sandwiches and fruit. After their hearty lunch, Blake laid in Yang’s arms and watched Michael’s and Aurelia’s game of tag.

“You know,” Yang said as she ran her fingers through Blake’s hair, “I’m kind of glad your growing out your hair again. It looks pretty.”

“Would you be upset if I cut it again.”

“No way, you look hot no matter what,” Yang grinned at her.

Blake sat up straight and looked at Yang, “you know what I’m glad about.”

Yang cocked her head, “what?”

“That you stepped down as the leader of the Golden Dragons and let Ruby handle it. I know you still have your consulting position.” She looked out onto their kids, who were now playing a game of pretend, fighting imaginary creatures called grimm. “But in all honesty the fact that I know you’re coming home to us just fills me with relief.”

Yang nodded, “me too. I know Ruby is plenty competent when it comes to leading, she’s more built for it than me. Plus, she had Weiss and Penny.” A twinkle of mirth sparked in her eye, “and nothing dangerous gets past Summer. She’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.” Blake leaned into Yang, “I’m so glad I met you.”

“I’m glad I met you too babe.” Yang leaned in and gave her a kiss, “what’s bringing all this up?”

“It’s nearly the anniversary of when we met, remember?”

“It is,” Yang let out a whistle. “How long has it been?”

Blake smiled softly, “five years.”

“Gods,” she held on tighter to Blake, “I can’t believe it. We’ve been together for five years.”

“And we got two wonderful children out of it. Thank goodness for that orphanage that pays us protection money. We might have never gotten them otherwise.”

Yang nodded and lifter her glass of coke, “to backdoors and connections.”

Blake lifter her glass and clinked it to Yang’s, “to backdoors and connections. Speaking of which,” she sipped her glass, “should we go see Ren and Nora? Apparently, their bakery ‘the pink lotus’ is doing well. Why don’t we give them and little Rose a visit?”

“That sounds like a great idea.” She called out to Aurelia and Michael, “do you kids want to visit your cousin Rose?”

“Yay!” Both sibling cheered. They rushed over and started helping Yang pack up the basket. Once they were done, Yang took Aurelia’s and Michael’s hand and headed off.

Blake walked behind her family, feeling a warmth in her heart. _This is my family, _she thought to herself, _I have a family. _Her ear twitched as she heard thunder far off in the background and felt light rain on her skin. She smiled, thinking of her mother’s words,

Storms are a new beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! I can't believe I've spent so long on this and basically wrote a short novel. It gives me hope that, one day, I can write my own original novel. 
> 
> I know they legally couldn't get married in the 1920's, but Yang had enough connections that she could probably get a not homophobic priest and a church to officiate the marriage. Some people don't need the paperwork to feel that their married. 
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking with it, especially those who were with it from the beginning when I was still getting hand of the format of this website. I hope you enjoyed the story as a whole.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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